Favors
by InnovAsians
Summary: Jaune finally made it into Beacon Academy. He was finally ready to make his impact on the world of Remnant for the better. Though, owing favors to unsavory criminals like Roman Torchwick could make that quite difficult.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Alright so I've been watching RWBY for a while now and wanted to write a story for it. So Jaune won't be completely clueless in this series but he won't be some golden god who does anything and everything. He also won't ever be some powerhouse superman who just bulldozes through every problem. I see a lot of stories that turn Jaune into a super hunter that has the skill and strength of full grown hunters at the age of 17. This will not be one of those stories. Here's the first chapter though. I hope you all enjoy!**

 **NOTE: This chapter had been slightly updated. I'll probably change it some more when I have more time.**

* * *

Where Legends Are Made

* * *

A small alarm clock rang with a repetitive buzzing noise.

A young man's hand lazily slapped at the clock. He missed once, twice, then finally silenced the clock on the third attempt. He sat up slowly, stretching his limbs in his blue onesie.

As he got ready for the day; brushing his teeth and combing his hair, his mind wandered to the letter he had received weeks ago.

 _Dear Jaune Arc,_

 _After an extensive review of your transcript and previous credentials, we are happy to inform you of your acceptance into Beacon Academy. Starting this Fall you will begin your journey as a hunter in training. We expect you to read the attached package regarding the rules of Beacon Academy, the culture behind the school, its purpose, and the curriculum you will be following._

 _We welcome you to our prestigious academy and hope to see you this Fall._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Professor Ozpin and the staff of Beacon Academy  
_

After washing up he went back into his room. He pulled out the aged set of armor he had stowed under the bed.

He slipped it on and made his way downstairs to the kitchen.

* * *

"Jaune, aren't you excited?" His mother smiled warmly at him as he slowly chewed his cereal. "You're finally heading to Beacon academy! It's always been your dream hasn't it?"

"He's probably a bit nervous." A gruff voice came from the hallway as a sturdy man made his way to the dining table. He gave Jaune one single glance and stalked his way around the table, taking a seat at the head. "Just leave the boy to his thoughts."

The truth, as he contemplated his parents words, was that he was incredibly nervous and excited at the same time. He could barely control the shaking in his legs and the heaviness of his breaths now that his brain started to realize just what day it was.

He was going to Beacon today. He...He of all people had made it in. He didn't think that his ploy would work. He expected the professors at Beacon to have seen through his ruse immediately. They were, after all, fully realized hunters and huntresses...right?

But it seemed that his correspondent was just as good. This...Roman Torchwick really was, as he so eloquently put it, all that and more.

Either way, he had made it in with seemingly no issues.

"-une? Jaune!"

His head snapped upwards in surprise. His eyes stared at the fingers stabbing towards his face. "So, are you excited or not?"

"Sorry mom...I'm a bit of both I guess." He let out a shaky laugh.

"Don't be such a worrywart. Sit up straight and have some backbone! And besides, even if you do flunk out, you can always come back home to your family!" His father's words did not achieve their intended effect as Jaune simply sunk lower into his seat.

"Don't say that! Jaune, just be yourself and I'm sure that you'll be fine!"

"Oh sure! The boy has no training and has landed himself in one of the biggest hunter academies in the world, but as long as he believes in himself, he'll be fine!" His father rolled his eyes and leveled Jaune with a stare. "Look boy, your mother's words are kind and all but just...understand that this isn't a game. As a hunter in training, they're going to send you out on dangerous, grim infested missions. To make matters worse, I haven't trained you."

"Dear, you're going to discourage him!"

"I'm not discouraging him. I'm just telling him the truth."

"Well," Jaune's mother paused as she considered the truth of the matter. "you could be a bit more positive with the message." His mother sighed and put a hand on Jaune's shoulder.

He shook the hand away with a slight twist of his torso. "Mom, it's okay. I know what Dad is trying to say! I'm fine!" He gave his dad a small smile and a thumbs up.

"See! I told you he understands!"

"No, you just said you were 'telling him the truth'!"

"Mom...Dad...I'm just gonna head out now okay?" He stood up from his chair in a hurry. He knew where this would lead. "Tell the others I'm sorry I didn't wait for them but that I really had to go!" He made his way to the door, intent on escaping the eventual cycle of light bickering into affectionate 'forgiving' his parents would go through.

As he prepared to step out the door and make his way to the pickup location, he felt a hand grip his shoulder.

"Jaune..."

Said boy turned his head slightly behind him, eyeing his father. "Yeah dad?"

"Your mother is right in a lot of regards though. Be yourself, be confident, and most importantly, be the man we raised you to be." He handed Jaune a blade and its respective sheath.

"Th-Thanks dad. I promise I'll do my best." His eyes widened a bit as he took the gift. Crocea Mors was the family heirloom. The oldest and toughest blade his family had.

He knew he should have felt honored but the only emotion that ran through his head was guilt. He didn't earn any of this. He had cheated his way into school and cheated his way into his fathers pride.

His conscience told him to fess up to the crime, return the heirloom, and take whatever punishment he deserved.

Instead, he waved his parents a final goodbye as he made his way to the pickup location.

* * *

Jaune's father watched his son walk out the front doors of his house, family weapon in tow. He sighed as he felt a pair of eyes bore into his back. He turned to look at his disapproving wife.

"You just let him go..." She accused. "Andre, you just let him go learn how to be some modern day 'hunter'." She made air quotes with her fingers, her lips thinning in displeasure. Andre Arc sighed deeply, his arms folding across his chest as he took the seat across from her.

"Of course I did, what was the alternative? Stop him, hold him hostage here at home?" He retorted, arms unfolding, his hands rested on the table, palms flat and facing downwards. "Anne, I know you're worried but Beacon won't be that dangerous. Besides, didn't you try to encourage him!?"

"I'm not going to put our son down like he's some failure! Why didn't you stop him though!? I mean how can you know that about Beacon? We don't know anything about that place!" She almost shrieked at him. Jaune was their only son, how could he just let him go like that? Just let him leave the house when he wasn't ready for the outside world. "What if it IS dangerous? What then?"

"Beacon has..." Andre paused, he refused to call government dogs hunters, "...teachers of great skill. They will take care of him. Besides, it's a SCHOOL. He won't be sent on anything too dangerous I can assure you."

His wife scoffed at him and shook her head.

"Weren't you the one who said, and I quote, 'they'll send you on dangerous mission, grim infested, missions?'"

"It was just to dissuade him, a white lie is all. Beacon won't do anything like that."

"Oh really? You know that for a fact? What do you even know about Beacon?"

His visage darkened at her question. He looked up at her and closed his eyes.

"I know enough. It's just another pathetic little school the council uses to promote their bullshit. Until those kids graduate they won't send them on anything dangerous. Wouldn't want to harm their future pets after all."

"Oh, and what happens if our little Jaune becomes one of those 'future pets'? What then dear?" She hissed out, her eyes watering as her thoughts turned to her gone son. She was standing now, her hands pressing harder into their dinner table.

"He won't." His confident voice noted. "Our son is an Arc. He'll see how ridiculous their school is with some time. He'll come back soon enough. I promise."

She didn't look convinced.

"And what happens if you're wrong…?" She asked quietly, slumping back into the chair.

Andre closed his eyes and opened his mouth.

"Then I'll make things right."

* * *

On the bullhead, Jaune held his stomach as the ship took him to Beacon.

 _-Oh God...Why flying? Of all things why FLYING?-_

"Urgh!" As the ship swooned through the air, Jaune swooned himself and let loose his mothers morning efforts.

"OH GOD!" Jaune vaguely saw the image of a blonde girl with a disgusted look on her face recoiling away from him as he puked next to her. A smaller, crimson hood clad girl was pulling her away from presumably beating him to an inch of his life.

As the ship landed, Jaune rushed out onto solid land, tripping over his feet. Though at this point he didn't mind. Land was land and he felt like he owed it a far more intimate connection than he had before.

A couple students shot him sympathetic looks as he remained on the floor, doing his best to get his bearings straight.

 _-Great start to my first day at Beacon...At least I'm following my parents advice of just being myself...ughhhh...-_

He gathered himself together and took a look at his surroundings. Despite the bad start he couldn't help but smile excitedly.

He was finally there, at Beacon.

 _-The pictures and videos really don't do this place justice...-_

He let out a single whoop of happiness. Sure he may not have done it legally, which put a slight damper in his shout, but he was still there. That had to matter for something.

He shrunk when he heard a loud boom from across the campus. Slightly in the distance he could make out the slight image of an...explosion?

It looked like someone else was having an even more interesting start to their first day.

He jogged off, hoping to catch a part of the commotion.

* * *

By the time he got there most of the excitement had died off, leaving him to come across the scene of a young girl sitting on the floor.

He made his way to her, intent on making his first friend at Beacon.

"Need some help?" He extended a hand and smiled at the dejected looking girl. "The name's Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, and the ladies love it."

 _-Nailed it. That was textbook Arc style.-_ He smiled as the girl took his hand and stood up.

"Thanks! My name is Ruby. Ruby Rose." His smile fell when her next words came out. "Hey! Weren't you the guy who puked on the bullhead!?"

"Oh cmon, don't tell me this is gonna stick."

"I'm sure it won't vomit boy!"

Jaune let out a groan at her enthusiastic voice. This was looking to be a very long four years.

"So, what exactly happened to you out here?" He came here looking for an explosion but there didn't seem to be any indication of one.

"Hrmmm..." Ruby glared at the floor as her face flushed red. "...exploded..."

"What?"

"...I...I...exploded because I tripped over some mean girls luggage!"

"Oh." Jaune's eyes widened as his brain slowly worked the cogs of his wit. Slowly he came to his perfect answer. "So, what you're telling me is that you exploded, crater face!" He looked up into the sky, knowing he had achieved victory.

"Hey! That wasn't even my fault"

When Jaune flicked his eyes in her direction he immediately found himself face to face with the most pouty face imaginable.

"Ah well, I wasn't there so I guess I'll never know the truth." He was certain she was used to using this power against others and bending them to her will, but...he was accustomed to this power. His youngest sisters had rendered him immune to such effects!

"Well vomit boy if you're going to be that mean I guess I'll just leave then." Ruby blew a raspberry at him as she skipped backwards away from him.

Laughing, Jaune waved her back. "Okay, okay! I'll stop calling you crater face if you can stop calling me vomit boy. Deal?" He stuck a hand out expectantly, waiting for her to take it.

"Deal!" She grabbed his hand with both of hers and vigorously shook it.

Jaune gingerly rubbed his shoulder as he laughed at her enthusiasm. Did all the girls here have hyper strength?

Oh god he hoped not.

"So…...Jaune, why did you help me out back there?" She shrunk into herself, slightly blushing as she asked her question.

"Well, my mom always told me that strangers are just friends you haven't met yet so you have to treat them well." Jaune shrugged at her when she gave him a quizzical look. "Honestly though, do I even really need a reason? Helping people is just something that should be done."

"Wow. Sounds like your parents are nice people. Though, I would say that you aren't allowed to say things like that from now on!" Ruby pointed an accusatory finger at him and stuck her tongue out. "You're not allowed to say stuff that makes you look cool!"

"Hey! I'm plenty cool you know! I once won first place at my towns carnival games tournament!"

"I feel like I've made my case." Ruby closed her eyes in satisfaction at having won the argument. Jaune just rolled his eyes and grinned at her.

A plus one to the friend counter definitely evened out the vomit ride he took to get here. So overall, he was feeling a lot better about the day.

"So, Jaune, what kind of weapon do you use?"

Oh shoot. He really didn't want to bring up his family heirlooms. "Well I have this sword and shield. The shield collapses into a sheath when not in use so I can carry both a bit easier."

"Wouldn't it still weigh the same overall?"

"I meant less unwieldy to carry, not lighter."

"Ohhhh. Well I have this!" He jumped as the red device on her back unpacked itself and slammed into the concrete, digging into it a couple of inches. "It's a high impact customizable sniper rifle."

"Oh yeah...I...totally see exactly that...yeah...just in case though, if some other people want to learn what it is and they aren't as smart as me can you maybe...I dunno...ex-"

"It's a sniper rifle that can turn into a scythe whenever I want it to." Once again, Ruby pouted at him. Clearly he wasn't a weapons enthusiast like herself at all, though he was certainly nice which was a massive plus. Especially considering her first two encounters being with miss Ice Cold Heart and Talks Too Little.

"See, I already knew that! Just helping you prepare for when you need to tell other people who might not get it so fast!" This was okay. He was feeling a lot more confident now. Like his parents said before he left, he just needed to be himself. Nothing more, nothing less.

"You know, I have this feeling we're supposed to be somewhere right now."

"You mean initiation? I thought that's where you were headed." Jaune slapped his forehead as he realized neither of them knew where they were going. He supposed that it made sense. The universe had to balance out in some way. No way he would ever be allowed to just have things go well.

No, that would be fortunate for him and fortune loved to vomit all over his happiness.

"Okay, well I think we should be fine though. It's only the first day and we're both new. I doubt they would do anything drastic for day one tardiness. Ri-right?" Jaune's voice wavered as his thoughts turned to the prospect of punishment on his first day.

What if they were drastic?

What if they decided that he wasn't responsible enough to be a hunter because he couldn't even keep the simplest of deadlines?

Oh God! What if they took a deeper look into his transcripts again and found his fraudulent credentials? These were trained and accredited hunters and huntresses, they were the top of the food chain. The power houses of the generation. The smartest most incredible humans to ever walk the earth. He had no doubt that he used up all of his luck just getting into this academy. There was no way he was going to survive if he pressed it any further.

He put on a focused look, grabbed Ruby by the hand, despite her blushing, stuttering protests, and stalked off to find the room where initiation was being held.

Or he would have had he not tripped over his feet and slammed his face into a girls chest the moment he turned around.

As a blonde inferno reared a fist back, Jaune turned his thoughts to the staff of Beacon Academy.

They were probably already scoping out the students at initiation, he was probably missing out on everything important.

Probably.

* * *

Across the campus sitting at a mahogany desk, headmaster Ozpin sipped his coffee languidly with no concerns regarding the rabble of hundreds of students gathered in one room just floors below him.

"Ozpin we really should go now."

"Glynda. There is a time and place for everything. A season for all-"

Glynda's eyebrows began to twitch and Ozpin's desk began to vibrate. "We're late!"

"By three minutes Glynda. We're perfectly fine. Hunters in training need to learn patience and-"

He was cut off suddenly when Glynda lifted him, the desk, and the chair all at once, dragging them to the elevator.

Ozpin sighed as his legs swung freely in the air, hopefully the students were having a better start to his day than he was.

* * *

"Wow Ruby! Your first day seriously started off with a bang, didn't it!" Yang grinned brightly at her younger sister. Sure she had abandoned her in the wild of Beacon at first but she did find her and bring her to the initiation ceremony. Besides she made a friend as well in vomit boy! Sure, Yang had knocked him out the moment he decided to commit MWP, motorboat without permission, but he survived and got up...eventually.

"Yang! Stop it! It was horrifying and that girl was really mean!" Ruby waved her arms wildly in the air. Why couldn't Yang just focus on what was important, like her making a new friend that wasn't a weapon. Though Jaune really couldn't compare with crimson rose, no one and no thing could.

Nope. Not. At. All.

Yang raised her hands in defense, she couldn't fight the powers of the pout. "Cmon Ruby, it's just a joke. Besides you have vomit boy now! Isn't that what matters most?" She flashed Jaune a grin. He was the definitely in the 'not a threat to cute little sister' category. Sure he was kind of cute in the innocent, always seeking to please, doggy sort of way but he was awkward and didn't seem like the kind who even knew how to flirt. So as long as he kept his hands to himself and away from Ruby, he was in the clear.

"Please call me Jaune. I really don't want that nickname to stick." Jaune would not allow this travesty to stand! He had just gotten Ruby to stop calling him vomit boy, letting Yang, someone ten times more boisterous would lead to disaster. Everyone would be calling him that name by nightfall.

He had to stop it any way he could.

"Look vomit boy, unless you have a way of turning the time back and stopping yourself from throwing up on my boots, the nickname sticks."

"Yang, Jaune, be quiet I think its starting!" Ruby waved her tiny hands in front of their faces, getting their attention. "Woah..." She pointed to the front where...Ozpin was floated into the hall...along with his desk and chair…

Jaune's eyes widened. Was the headmaster that powerful? He didn't even walk around to where he needed to go. It was impressive to watch to say the least.

Across the hall, Glynda put Ozpin onto the floor. She leaned to his ear. "Speech. Now." She growled at him while somehow keeping a calm look on her face.

In Ozpin's defense, he didn't budge an inch at the growl, instead opting to smile towards the students gathered.

Looping back towards the rear of the room, Jaune readied himself as the headmaster rose out of his chair.

This was important.

This was the beginning of his journey.

This was his destiny.

* * *

"-aune! Hey! Wake up!" Ruby shook Juane's shoulder. Yang shook her head, if shaking wasn't working…

"Argh! What happened? Where are we?" Jaune recoiled backwards as Yang's palm connected with his cheek. He rubbed his reddening cheek.

"You fell asleep during the speech Jaune."

"Yeah vomit boy, you know it was pretty important too. Sad you missed all of it." Yang grinned at him as a panicked look came over his face.

"Oh god! What did I miss? When did I fall asleep."

"Um...you know when the headmaster stood up out of his chair?"

"Yeah?"

Ruby shuffled her feet. "Maybe...five or six...seconds after that I think?"

Jaune sighed and slapped his forehead.

"Perfect..."

Yang slapped a hand on his slumped shoulder and threw Ruby a grin. "Look on the bright side vomit boy! Ruby fell asleep halfway through as well!"

"Yang!" Ruby's face flushed the same color of her cloak. She had wanted keep up her look of cool and responsible to Jaune…

* * *

After the speech ended, the students were all sent as a group to sleep in a single room. Apparently it was to help build self control and discipline.

The real reason was that the staff thought it was easier to watch the students if they were all in a single room.

"Alright Rubes, spill!" Said girl rose her hands in defense as a single, long finger was thrust into her cheek. "You're writing in your diary about Jaune aren't you!"

"Yang." Ruby gave her a deadpan stare as she shoved her letter into her face. "It's a letter to my friends back at signal. I promised to write to them!"

"It's okay Rubes! You can tell me the truth!" Yang grinned even as the letter pressed deeper into her face.

"It is the truth Yang!"

"Excuse me!" Yang flicked her eyes to a pale girl staring her down with her hands on her hips. "If you can't tell, people are trying to sleep here. So keep the noise down!"

"Oh no!" Ruby froze for a moment then quickly found shelter behind her older sister. It was the scary girl from earlier. She didn't want to explode again.

"Oh. Of course its you again. Causing more trouble?"

Yang narrowed her eyes for just a moment before flashing a bright smile. "Oh, you already met Ruby? I'm her sister Yang. You the one who made her explode?"

"Yang!" Said girl looked aghast as her own flesh and blood seemingly betrayed her.

"No she did that all on her own I'll have you know." She turned her nose up at the accusation. "Keep your sister in line before she causes anymore problems, would you!"

"Look, I'm sure you and Ruby just got off on the wrong foot. How about the two of you try to be friends." She hadn't played mediator since...well, since ever really. She was usually the active participant in arguments. Though, for her sisters sake, she was willing try her best.

"Yeah, maybe we could! We could shop for school supplies, paint our nails, go clothes shopping, and talk about cute boys like tall blonde and scraggly over there." She shoved her pointer finger at Jaune as he strolled through the hallway in his blue onsie. He noticed the commotion and waved brightly at the girls before heading off to what Yang assumed was his bed.

"Really?"

Weiss stared at the hopeful face of Ruby Rose. For a moment she faltered at the sheer optimism the girl showed. Just a moment though.

"No."

Yang stepped in again to defuse the situation and turn the pale witch of a girl away. "Alright then 'princess'! We'll keep the-"

"Excuse me! What did you just call me? Do you not know who I am?"

Yang clenched her fists, she didn't care about her name and her piss poor attitude was about to get her renamed to casualty.

"Look, princess" Yang made sure to put extra emphasis into the princess portion. Judging by the furious look on the girls face it had the desired effect. "I don't ca-"

"I am Weiss Schnee of the Schnee Dust Company. You have absolutely no rigth to speak to me life that!"

"..." Yang's mouth was wide open for the world to see...This girl's...audacity was just dumbfounding. Ignoring Ruby's protests to the impending violence, she closed her mouth and prepared a fist to line drive into the girls face.

"For a girl looking for sleep, you're quite loud..."

Weiss turned her fury to the new addition to the conversation. "And who are you exactly?"

"Blake...Blake Belladonna. It's getting late. You should just retire back to your bed and go to sleep since you want to be so well rested for tomorrow."

"Ugh! As long as these two buffoons keep it down."

Yang nearly drove her fist home at the insult but was held back by Ruby who stood before her with her arms wrapped around her torso.

"Yang! She's leaving now." Ruby pressed her tiny fingers together and blasted Yang with the strongest dose of the puppy dog eyes she could. She was absolutely not getting into trouble with the professors on the first day. "I think we should just go to sleep!"

"Alright, alright. I'll let it go." Yang took deep calming breaths as she took a step back. "Hey. Blake, right? Thanks for the-" She gestured towards the brunette but she was already walking away from her. "help...Well this is just great."

Yang sighed and went back to her sleeping bag.

* * *

 **A/N: So there's the end to the chapter. Jaune did not get involved during the sleeping scene. Romance won't ever really be that big throughout this story. There won't be any chapters solely based on romance. I might write a one shot dedicated to the pairing if I get a request for it but I will probably stay away from anything too graphic. Feel free to leave a review stating whatever you liked and didn't like about this chapter. I would really like to hear what you think I could work on in this story. Thank you!**

* * *

 **UPDATE POST:**

 **Something I was told was that the interaction between Jaune and his parents made very little sense.**

 **I agree having read it over. I realize now that people do not have the kind of family values that I have which means that the scene is insanely confusing to some. I removed a scene when I had written this chapter since I thought of it as a bit superfluous but I chose to put it back in now. Hopefully it adds to the chapter as a whole.**

 **Jaune's family is not ideal or perfect. They have flaws in everything they do like any other family would. However, in the world of Remnant where death quite literally surrounds their home, their flaws are different from ours. They don't put value into things we put value into.**

 **This will be expounded upon from here on out for the coming chapters.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Here's chapter two. Jaune finally gets some experience leading and his own team. Answers to some questions at the bottom.**

* * *

Learning to Lead

* * *

Fingers ran through a blonde mane as a young man sighed, his eyes flicking back and forth between the piece of paper in his hand and the locker in front of him.

He had read in the introductory package that students would be placed into teams and yesterday, during the announcement he slept through, the students were told to follow the instructors in the morning.

They were given lockers yesterday to put their weapons in and he was absolutely sure locker 636 was not the right locker. But, lo and behold, written right on a piece of paper were those same incriminating numbers. He had been pacing around the locker room searching in vain for the elusive locker but, still no luck.

"Oh man...I can't believe this is happening right now." His voice came out in a high pitched whine.

Suddenly he found his face attempting to meld with one of the lockers when he tripped over a bench.

"Ow..." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the locker number, 636...It was practically taunting him into assaulting the damn thing. He grumbled a bit as he rubbed his sore cheek with one hand and opened the locker with the other.

On the other end of the locker room, Weiss Schnee was engaged in a titillating conversation with resident champion fighter, Pyrrha Nikos.

"So Pyrrha, I was thinking about the teams today." Weiss couldn't believe her luck. To have met the Mistral Regional Champion here at Beacon academy was perfect for her! Together the two of them would be absolutely unstoppable! She had to get her as her partner for the next four years. She refused to settle for any less. "I think it would be perfect if the two of us were to team up together. What do you say?"

"I think that sounds wonderful." Pyrrha nodded congenially at the offer but her heart twanged slightly at the offer. She wasn't opposed to being teammates with the girl but...she had heard that your partner would become your friend and Weiss seemed more interested in her reputation than her actual person. Not that she didn't think she and Weiss couldn't be friends…she had just been hoping for someone a bit more...genuine.

"Well then it's settled! We should go find a prof-" Suddenly a blonde figure came between Weiss and her ultimate goal for the next four years.

"Well hello there snow angel. The name's Jaune Arc, short, sweet, rolls off the tongue and the ladies love it. Now I hear we need partners and I was thinking you and I would make the perfect couple." He had this one in the bag. No girl could bear witness to his suave lines and not-

"Absolutely not! And do not call me snow angel ever again!" She knew she had recognized him from somewhere, he was mister tall, blonde, and scraggly from the other night. "Besides me and Pyrrha here have already decided on being a team."

Said girl smiled warmly at Jaune and waved politely. "Hello!"

"Urgh..." Jaune recoiled a bit at the swift rejection but quickly found his bearings again. "Well hot stuff, if you want we still have two open spaces on the best team ever over here."

"I already said no!"

"Er...three open spaces?"

"Do you even know who she is? That's Pyrrha Nikos you're talking to!" Pyrrha internally sighed as Weiss brought up her name. Was that where her entire worth as a person lay...in a name?

"Ah yes! Pyrrha Nikos! Of course I know who that is!" The red haired champion sighed. She knew it was too good to be-

"But just in case anyone here doesn't know who she is, you should definitely describe her in full detail." In his defense, it had worked before with Ruby so technically this line had a perfect record thus far.

"You absolute simpleton! She's graduated at the top of her class at Sanctum!"

"That's probably super impressive to people who know what Sanctum is!"

"Ugh! She's been the Mistral Regional Champion for fours years in a row! A new record!"

"Wow! Being a Champion is a good thing! Right?"

"...She's on the cover of every Pumpkin Petes-"

"Oh my gosh! I have seen you before! But they only reserve things like that for really incredible people!"

 **-** _He's the one._ **-** Pyrrha was genuinely surprised that there was someone who didn't know her accomplishments and accolades. It made her feel...normal.

He was **going** to be her partner.

She had pretty much settled that in her heart.

Across from the calm girl, Jaune was sufficiently flummoxed. How could he have not noticed right off the bat who this girl was. He ate that cereal for years, chowing down every morning of every day until one day his mom told him that he was eating it too often and stopped buying it. He had wept at the loss for days.

"Well, I...I guess you're looking for something more in a teammate huh..." Jaune flashed a pained smile and looked dejectedly at the ground.

"No!" She said with a rush as she grabbed his shoulder. Jaune's neck nearly snapped as Pyrrha shook him with a bit too much force than absolutely necessary. "...I mean, I think you would make a great leader for a team Jaune."

"Er...Really? You think so?"

"No she doesn't really think that!" Weiss stepped in between the two of them, intent on stopping the nonsense before it got any further. Clearly Pyrrha was also far too nice and encouraging for her own good. Weiss would save her from being roped with the utter buffoon.

Suddenly the speakers blared with the commanding voice of Glynda Goodwitch.

"All first year students report to Beacon Cliffs for the next stage of initiation. I repeat, all first year students report to Beacon Cliffs immediately."

"Oh look at the time! Pyrrha we should really go!" Weiss snatched the crimson champion's hand and sped off through the door, leaving Jaune spinning in place and eventually stumbling over another bench.

"Ow…"

"Hey there lady killer! You need a hand?" Jaune looked up to see Yang and her sister Ruby standing before him.

"Thanks." He grabbed the offered support and was yanked to his feet. He almost fell over again, forward this time. It was looking like every girl here was super strong.

Perfect…

"So Jaune, how did it go with the ice princess over there?"

"Not good. I just don't get it. My parents told me confidence was all girls looked for. Between yesterday and today, I'm just not feeling it."

"I thought you did great yesterday..." Ruby mumbled out, barely audible to herself let alone anyone else.

"What was that Rubes?"

"Nothing! Just saying that it's not all that bad. Weiss seems to be mean to everyone Jaune. Don't worry too much about it!"

"Yeah, Ruby is right Jaune! Snow angel may not have been the best girl to go after first."

"Thanks you guys." Jaune sighed as he accepted Ruby's shoulder and walked towards Beacon Cliffs. He wouldn't mind being on a team with either of the two. They were nice. Pyrrha wouldn't be half bad either. She seemed to at least believe in him.

* * *

A smiling mother and father. Helping his youngest sister ride her first bike. Getting his first set of armor. The excitement of watching his family members spar.

All these memories flashed through Jaune Arc's mind...

Because he was flying through the air...well...falling was probably the better word for it now that he thought about it.

At least he would have thought that had his mind not been busy with such philosophic thoughts like: "AUGHHHHHHH!"

Jaune cartwheeled through the air, his body displaying true gymnastics skill as it spun in perfect circles. If a judge were to evaluate his performance, he would no doubt land a solid nine out of ten. A point would have to be taken off for the screaming however.

A distance away from the free style faller, a crow happily flew through the air. It had finally landed its first mate which meant it could finally have offspring of its own! Excitedly, it had gathered together materials for its future nest and was flying back to-

 ***poof***

"Birdy no!" Black feathers spread over the area as a high speed Ruby Rose shot through the bird like a cannonball.

Even further away, Pyrrha Nikos smashed through tree limbs before eventually coming to a stop on a thick branch. She spied the area around her and saw Jaune tumbling through the air.

 _-Does he have a…?-_

As Jaune continued to tumble, Pyrrha realized Jaune truly didn't have a landing strategy. Quickly morphing Milo into its javelin form, she took aim, focused her aura, and let Milo fly through the sky.

 ***Twang***

She paused for a moment as she waited for a response.

"...Thank You!" Pyrrha smiled, relieved, as she heard Jaune's voice ring through the treeline. She slid Akouo into her hands and jumped from the tip of the tree.

Slamming into the ground shield first, Pyrrha oriented herself and took off towards Jaune. It was imperative she got to him soon before anyone else could claim…Milo...yes, she thought to herself...before anyone could steal Milo away from her...

* * *

Jaune stared at the spear holding him 15 feet above the ground in incredulity. He assumed the spear had to be Pyrrha's, his mother and sisters all had a natural love of matching colors and so far all the girls at beacon he had met so far followed in line. Hell, most of the guys even seemed to take careful consideration to match the color of their weapons, clothes, and hair.

Maybe it was a hunter thing he thought to himself.

Shaking his head, he grabbed the spear with two hands, preparing himself for the fall that would come once he tore it out of tree. He had seen several videos and TV shows that detailed how to fall from various heights so he was pretty confident...that rolling was involved somewhere.

His arms bulged as he pulled on the steel handle. "Hrghhh!"

"…"

"Arghh!"

"..."

He glared at the unmoving metal.

Okay, maybe he just needed a slightly new angle. Twisting his body against the trunk, Jaune turned himself to be facing the aged wood.

Luckily his hoodie didn't rip in the process.

Placing his feet onto the trunk and hands firmly grasping the spear, Jaune tugged while straightening his legs.

Next thing he knew, aliens had definitely abducted him for study as bright lights spun in his vision and the back of his head pounded like a drunk man on his ex-girlfriend's door.

"-aune! Are you okay!"

"Huh? Wa-waddya want! You wanna piece of me bastards!" Jaune swung his arms wildly, he wouldn't go down without a fight and if these alien bastards wanted to dissect him, they would have to do it…

 _-Oh my...He doesn't seem alright at all...-_

"Ughh..." Jaune stumbled as his vision cleared, he wasn't in some interstellar laboratory, no he was still very much in the forest.

"Um...Jaune are you okay?" His neck nearly snapped with how fast he spun around. Blue eyes locked with green as he stared at his savior. Pyrrha had somehow found her way to him. No doubt to retrieve her weapon but by the way she came into the clearing alone…

"Yeah! Sorry bout that." He rubbed the back of his sore head in embarrassment with one hand as he passed the girl her weapon back with the other. He doubted he could have actually hurt her, but he probably looked foolish as hell swinging her weapon around like a drunkard.

Pyrrha sighed in relief as Jaune came back to Remnant. Smiling she held out a hand.

"Well I guess this makes us partners Jaune."

Taking her hand into his own, Jaune was amazed at his continued luck. He just paired up with arguably the most accomplished student in the school. More over, she actually seemed happy to be paired up with him.

He was probably about to get fucked hard by lady luck soon...

"Um...I didn't see any Grimm on the way here so I think we're fine." Pyrrha watched with slight amusement as Jaune scoped out the area around them in panic.

"No it's not that!" He put up his hands in defense. "It's just that every time something incredible happens to me, something bad happens to even it out. Karma or whatever it's called you know?"

"Oh...I don't think karma works backwards though." Pyrrha blushed slightly at his words. She was relatively certain most of the students would have considered it great luck to be paired with her but she still appreciated his forwardness.

They both froze as a slight growl came from the foliage behind Jaune.

An Ursa lumbered out of the bushes and locked its crimson eyes on the two.

Jaune drew his sword and shield and let out an audible gulp. Grimm were...large. That thing was so much larger than he had ever expected. How the hell would he fight something like that. It was too big, too strong, too dangerous…

Pyrrha took place by his side and threw him a worried glance.

"Jaune, take a deep breath and relax. It's just one grimm." Why in the world was he so afraid? It was just one grimm. Jaune probably went to Signal Academy so he should have had combat experience against minor grimm like Ursa and Beowolves.

Nevertheless, Jaune shook as he inhaled deep and shaky breaths.

"Sorry, I just...I've never seen something so large."

"I see, don't worry too much Jaune." Maybe he got in through studies and lacked more practical skills. It wasn't entirely unheard of for a student to coast through on theoretical knowledge. Those students didn't last long however…She would have to rectify this immediately if it were the case." Raise your shield further up and part your legs to shoulder width. Just watch me for the moment."

As the Ursa lunged, Jaune inhaled sharply. In one red and gold swing, Milo detached the Ursa's head from it's shoulders. Pyrrha turned around and looked past the decaying grimm to see Jaune with his jaw dropping nearly to the floor.

"Pyrrha..." Said girl raised an eyebrow at him and continued to smile calmly as if she hadn't just disappeared into thin air and reappeared with a dead grimm at her feet. "That was amazing..."

Jaune was awestruck...Was that the strength hunters and huntresses in training held? How could he be expected to catch up let alone keep up…Though now that he thought about it…maybe...Roman had helped him get in...maybe he could help him after...no. Absolutely not. He already owned him one favor. No way he could come to owe him **two** full favors.

"Thank you." After another reddening of the cheeks later the duo found themselves stalking through the forest for their goal.

 ***Whap***

Jaune recoiled as a stray branch slashed at his face. Grumbling, he rubbed the small wound and gave the branch a single, desolating glare.

Pyrrha, on the other hand, was wide eyed and looking completely bewildered.

 _-...His aura didn't protect him...either he has a strange form of conscious control over it or...-_ She left the thought unfinished in favor of simply asking Jaune out loud.

"Jaune...do you have access to your aura?"

"My what?"

"..." This was going to require far more work than she originally thought.

"Aura is the manifestation of one's soul Jaune. It bears out burdens and shields our hearts." She felt slightly at a loss at this new knowledge. How did Jaune enter into a school like Beacon without even having his aura active? Not even the most studious students could accomplish that.

She left these thoughts behind for later, instead choosing to focus on the situation at hand. Jaune would need his aura if he expected to survive for long.

"Jaune." She sighed as she reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm going to unlock your aura now okay. Just close your eyes and listen to my words."

Jaune could only nod in affirmation and do exactly as told.

"For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee."

White light shined through the area, before settling down into a small glow surrounding Jaune's form.

He marveled at the light coating his limbs. He felt so...powerful. All of a sudden he felt like he could take on the world and win. Was this how hunters always felt? Was this the power they used to combat the grimm?

It was awing.

A bead of sweat rolled down her forehead before she straightened up. Jaune looked positively ecstatic. It made the effort most definitely worth it.

"Pyrrha, are you alright?" Jaune looked at her in worry. Sure she was smiling but her body screamed exhaustion. His family members did the same thing when they returned from a particularly difficult training session.

"I'm fine Jaune." She took a single deep breath. "Your aura is quite large however." It was his turn to blush at the commentary. He wasn't used to such blatant compliments.

"Thanks. So, lets keep going?"

"I suppose so."

The duo headed back off through the forest.

Now armed with aura, Jaune felt like he could take on the world. He dared any grimm to come face him now.

* * *

"Well" Pyrrha laughed a bit as she hopped over a fallen log and looked back towards Jaune. "I guess you weren't entirely wrong about your comment from earlier huh."

Jaune huffed as he sprinted to keep up with the red haired girl. He was certain without his aura he wouldn't have been able to keep up with her at all. "Pyrrha. I just feel like now might not be the best-"

A massive claw slammed through a tree behind them, revealing an enormous death stalker.

He had played enough video games to know that deep dark caves usually led to treasure so when they came across one such cave...well...he probably should have listened to Pyrrha from the beginning instead of his own meager experiences in the virtual world.

"Jaune, do you remember what I told you when we faced that first Ursa?"

"Yes but-"

"Just breathe calmly and think. Focus and come up with a plan of attack." She was certain if the death stalker got too close for comfort she could take it down with some moderate effort so she felt this was a good time to acclimate Jaune to danger and planning on the fly.

"Ok. Ok..." His breaths slowed down as he wracked his brain for a plan. Despite how terrifying the situation was to him, he forced himself to focus on coming up with a plan. Pyrrha was actually counting on him for something so there was no way he could fail her now.

He eyed her shield and sword before looking at his own. He viewed the trees around the two of them as they ran. Finally he turned his head for just a moment to see the super sized scorpion plowing through said trees in it's determination to kill them.

"Pyrrha, can you throw your spear-sword thing hard enough to penetrate through it's armor?"

Ducking underneath a low hanging branch, Pyrrha smiled as she saw Jaune coming up with a plan. "Absolutely."

"Okay." He leaped over a log a narrowly rolled out the way of another crushing blow. "Follow up question, are the bullets any good?"

"Not unless they hit the eye." She twisted gracefully out of the way as a stinger impaled the ground she previously occupied. They needed to speed up a bit. The talking was causing them to slow down. "And if you're wondering, yes I can hit it in the eye. I just need a second to aim though."

Jaune nodded at the supplied information. "Okay, its claws can't reach too far out and most of its crushing strength comes from throwing its weight around. The stinger is probably its fastest attack so here's my plan." Speaking of, said stinger nearly impaled Jaune to the ground before Pyrrha grabbed him and spun out the way.

"Thanks." He was surprisingly calm despite having nearly died multiple times. "I'll step in, past the claws, and stab it in the left arm bendy part to stall its motion, while you line up as many shots to the eyes on one side to keep it from simply squashing me."

"It'll probably try to stab me with the stinger but hopefully with the eyes on one side of its head out of commission it'll either miss or at least give me enough leeway space to get out of the way. After the stinger miss-" Jaune ducked underneath another branch before the rest of the tree was obliterated underneath the crushing might of the death stalker.

"-misses and stabs into the ground, I need you to throw your spear as hard as you can into the stinger bendy part. That should hopefully force it to stop using the stinger so liberally."

"On your call leader." Pyrrha had some doubts about the plan, especially since quite a bit of it relied on Jaune not freezing up but it wasn't the worst plan either. In theory, Jaune's weapon set and armor were far better suited to close range heavy combat than her own and while grimm were more monster than anything they did certainly feel pain. Besides, if Jaune did fumble a bit, she was certain she could use her semblance to correct those mistakes.

"Alright." Jaune took more deep breaths, steeling his resolve. He couldn't falter now, Pyrrha was seriously relying on him. Someone was relying on him of all people. He couldn't afford to fail now.

"Now!" Jaune spun around, facing the death stalker face to face. He stalled for a second as gargantuan claws closed in on him before sprinting inwards past them and lodging his sword into the left arm joint.

The claw struggled to move as steel punctured through multiple tubes causing blood pressure to drop immediately through the system. Pyrrha used to short opportunity to let loose three shots, all finding their mark on the left side of the head. Jaune yanked his sword free immediately, allowing blood to further leak from the wound.

Not expecting the immediate release, Jaune fell to the floor and saw the stinger poised right above him.

As the death stalker's stinger came crashing down, Jaune narrowly slid out of the way into safety.

Pyrrha held out one hand, following Jaune's movement across the sands as a slight black glow surrounded his armor. With the other, she launched Milo at full force into the stingers joint section.

As the death stalker reared back in obvious pain, Pyrrha yanked hard with her outstretched hand causing Milo to tear back out the joint and come to a rest in Pyrrha's grasp.

Jaune rolled up beside her as the grimm warily clicked its right claw at them.

"Great...work...Pyrrha!" Gasps of air left Jaune's lips as he tried to congratulate his partner.

"Same to you Jaune." Pyrrha, being in far better shape and knowing how to use her aura more efficiently, was looking far less tired than her companion. "You did quite well engaging the grimm in close quarters."

Sure he did nearly die but he didn't need to know that just yet.

He preened at the compliment. As tired as he was and as dangerous the situation still was, Jaune was genuinely glad that Pyrrha was seemingly impressed.

"It doesn't seem too keen on attacking us anymore." Pyrrha noted as the massive arachnid-like grimm crawled backwards through the tree line of carnage it had just created moments before while chasing them.

"Yeah, lets book it out of here now."

Pyrrha nodded in affirmation and the two headed off deeper through the forest.

"By the way Jaune" She waited until Jaune turned his head, showing he was listening.

"Yeah Pyrrha?"

"The claw and stinger joints are called the femur and the anus respectively."

"...The...anus?"

"Yes Jaune. The anus."

Jaune looked straight forwards and did his best to quiet his laughter. Pyrrha giggled silently as she saw his bright smile.

Some levity went a long way to calm people down and while her brand of humor was...unorthodox...Jaune at least seemed to find the humor in it.

And really, that's all that mattered in the end.

* * *

"..." Jaune and Pyrrha stared at the ancient temple and gathered students. Jaune, being the more vocal one, fell to his knees slammed his head into the ground. Pyrrha opted to simple sigh and put on her signature smile.

"Pyrrha..." Jaune's voice came out muffled as he spoke into the grass. "How long did run after we fought off the death stalker?"

"About twenty maybe thirty yards I think?" Pyrrha laughed lightly at her companion. Turns out their goal had been in walking distance when they turned around to fight.

Jaune pointed an accusing finger at the blonde and her sister while still facing the ground. "Did you guys not hear us fighting out their?"

"I kind of just got here and was distracted saving Weiss from falling." Said girl gave a pointed glare towards the young student.

"I wouldn't have been falling in the first place if it wasn't for your rash decisions!"

Yang rolled her eyes as the two fell into another bickering session. "Actually vomit boy, aside from me and Blake, most of the gang you're seeing just got here."

"And you?"

"We were too distracted by everyone's impressive entries! Right Blake?" Said girl rolled her eyes as Yang threw her a look.

"…Yes."

"See then vomit boy! Everyone has an alibi! And besides, you had Pyrrha with you! I'm sure she could handle anything thrown at you guys with her hands tied behind her back."

"Ugh..." Jaune simply picked himself off the floor and staggered to the chessboard. "Pyrrha, what piece do you want to take?"

"I believe I'll let you choose Jaune."

"Alright then..." Jaune carefully eyed the board. It wouldn't do well to be too rash in his decision. This could be another test of some sort and he didn't want to fail somehow. It was imperative he took the perfect-

"Take the castle piece like Ren did Jaune!" A bubbly red head shoved her chess piece into Jaune's cheek. "They already took the horses..."

Jaune stumbled backwards, eyes wide at the overly excited stranger.

"Nora..." Ren grabbed the piece delicately before the bombastic girl could shove it through the boy's face. "You're the one who chose the piece. Remember?"

"Oh yeah!"

Jaune gingerly fingered his abused face, checking for bruising. Nonetheless, he picked up the matching piece and examined it. A castle...Strong, steadfast, and unmoving. He grasped it in his hand, it felt...right.

"Pyrrha, how do you feel about the castle?"

"You mean the rook?"

"Don't make up names for things Pyrrha."

The duo smiled at each other as Jaune pocketed the chess piece.

Suddenly, the group of students looked above them as a screech sounded through the clearing. High above them a massive nevermore circled their location. Their heads swung back down as a death stalker came bursting out at high speed.

"Good thing we all gathered here! We can all die together now. Isn't that awesome!"

"Yang..."

"Pyrrha...Is that-"

"Yes Jaune, I think it is..."

"Ruby you dolt! You lead it here!"

"No! You were the one hanging on to it's feet!"

"Ren! Sloth attack mode activate!"

"..."

The assorted students drew their weapons and prepared themselves for the ensuing fight.

* * *

Sitting at his desk, Ozpin lazily sipped his coffee as he watched a set of eight students battle two very large grimm.

"Ozpin. That Jaune boy." Ozpin held up a hand before the strict professor could even continue.

"Glynda, I know how you feel about him and his...lack of skill." He had heard her repeat the same thing about Jaune for several minutes now. "But he clearly has a solid grasp in leadership and planning." He gestured towards the screen as the blonde boy led his impromptu team. "Moreover, his combat skill is clearly not as bad as you say. He's keeping up to a certain extent."

Glynda sighed as she stared at the papers in her hand. Jaune Arc's transcripts were...completely valid. It spoke of how the boy had passed more through theory and classwork instead of practical combat. In summary, he coasted through on knowledge rather than skill…

But something about the transcript rubbed her the wrong way. It just felt...off. She had contacted some professors from Signal Academy and they said Jaune Arc must have flown under the radar with his average performance. They were little help at discerning much about him.

She didn't have time to conduct a full length investigation either now that the school year had begun, leaving her to voice her complaints and worries to Ozpin.

"Ozpin, I can see that clearly but I still worry." Her eyes went back to the scene unfolding across the monitors. Lie Ren had somehow climbed onto the death stalkers tail and unloaded multiple rounds into the stinger, causing it to fall off. Jaune motioned for Pyrrha to use her shield and send the eccentric girl flying high in the air, before slamming her hammer straight into the falling stinger, driving it home and sending Ren flying through the air when the tail bucked wildly.

The headmaster raised an eyebrow and raised his mug to the students.

"See, they handled that perfectly. Glynda try your best to trust me will you."

"Trust you? Ozpin last time I trusted you, you allowed Peter to bring in a live alpha beowolf for the students to fight."

Ozpin nearly gagged on his coffee at her words.

"Yes, but that certainly helped the students learn how to-"

"One student lost an arm Ozpin..."

"Just an opened avenue to change and grow I'm certain."

"He never got a replacement for it."

"Well that sounds like Atlas being quite sting-"

"He sued the school!"

"Well he lost the suit..."

"Not the point!"

He set his mug down and waved an arm in the air dismissively. Glynda was too much of a worrywart. A lost limb or two really wasn't too much of an issue.

Besides Peter promised this year to keep it far more manageable…

Though perhaps he would refrain from telling Glynda about the continued plans to bring more grimm into the classroom…

After all, what she didn't know couldn't hurt her...

He would have to make sure to schedule a vacation for her on that week.

Glynda sighed and placed a palm to her face. "I'll leave the issue for now then, but if this Jaune Arc messes up anywhere I'll be sure to have him expelled immediately."

"Absolutely Glynda. Couldn't agree more..." He watched as Ruby lead her side to victory as well against the nevermore. They were already shaping up to be a very powerful team. He knew he had made the right choice in extending an invitation to her and miss Belladonna.

"Looks like most of the teams have been made now. Should I recall Peter and Bartholomew?"

Ozpin groaned at the thought of the oncoming difficulty. He hated making team names.

"I suppose you should..."

This was going to be a very long meeting.

He could feel it.

* * *

"Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie, the four of you retrieved the white rook pieces-"

"God damn it..." Jaune mumbled quietly to himself, only loud enough for Pyrrha to hear.

She elbowed him in the side but smiled nonetheless.

"-from this day forward, you will work together as team JNPR. Lead by Jaune Arc."

"Me..." Pyrrha smiled at him and punched his shoulder playfully, sending him tumbling to the floor as his brain continued to process the information.

He...He was...a leader?

"Congratulations Mister Arc. I'm sure you'll make a fine leader." Ozpin gave Glynda a pointed look when she frowned.

While deciding team leaders Glynda had been...vocal towards his decision of placing Jaune Arc as leader of his team.

"And finally, Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao-long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as team RWBY. Lead by Ruby Rose."

"What..." Weiss looked to the floor...A fifteen year old child had been chosen as their leader...been chosen over her. How could this happen?

"Ruby! I'm so proud of you!"

"Yang, I get it." She struggled against the powerful arms of her sister. "I. Need. To. Breathe." Yang released her sister from the stranglehold but not before giving her one more tight squeeze.

The teams headed off to their respective rooms. Intent on getting as much rest after such an eventful day.

The leader of team JNPR found himself grinning ear to ear as the realization sunk in.

Sure the day had started off pretty bad but he landed himself an awesome partner and a seemingly incredible team.

Things were definitely looking up for Jaune Arc.

* * *

 **A/N: Holy hell this went on longer than I thought. Sorry about that...**

 **Alright so that ends chapter two, a bit longer than the first one but also, in my opinion, a bit of a summary. I didn't want to go too much into detail regarding the emerald forest team creation event. It stayed the same for the most important bits; everyone got on the same team so no changes there.** **There were s** **ome slight dialogue changes but not much else.** **Though** **Pyrrha didn't need to throw her shield like Captain America** **this time** **to slice the stinger off** **.**

 **Speaking of which, yes the bendy part connecting the stinger to the tail is** **most certainly** **called the anus.**

 **A** **lso, I know it may seem strange that Jaune somehow went from freezing up at the mere sight of a grimm to closing the distance with a much larger one so fast but I do have valid reasoning for it. Jaune's first meeting with a grimm was one where he was completely unprepared and ill-equipped.** **He had only heard stories of how grimm tear grown men and women apart easily. He may know that there are men and women in the world who can compete with such beasts but in that moment all he can think about is how ill-prepared he is.**

 **In his meeting with the death stalker he** **now has his** **aura and the confidence that Pyrrha** **is more than** **capable of combating the creatures of grimm.** **Sure he was still scared bu** **t** **he** **could still think and comprehend** **the** **situation. If you've ever been in a terrifying situation before you know that the reason someone freezes up is because he or she can't properly think. Take that problem away and all of a sudden the fear isn't so paralyzing anymore.**

 **A** **nother thing is how strong everyone is expected to be. Pyrrha is going to be an absolute powerhouse in this fic. In the show she held up her own, even if only for a few moments, against Cinder Fall.** **Cinder seems to be far stronger than Adam Taurus since she pretty much strong armed him into joining her forces** **by** **incapacitating a bunch of his soldiers** **and Adam completely wrecked Blake and Yang with ease.** **So Pyrrha is at least several notches above anyone in team RWBY.**

 **Regardless, this ends chapter two. I hope you all enjoyed!**

 **For Zaegan: Funny enough,** **he's still just a literal name drop in this chapter. I promise he will be a much more important figure in the coming chapter and Neo will make her appearance with him.** **  
**

 **For Mr. Sinclair:** **This fic will probably deviate from cannon heavily as the chapters go by. Starting chapter three things the changes from cannon will be a bit more explicit.** **Also when it comes to romance I hope to achieve warm and fuzzy** **but I can't promise you anything.**

 **For everyone in general who left reviews: Thank you so much! I really appreciate the feedback and the support! I hope you enjoy this going forwards!**

 **Next Chapter: March 7 (** **May come earlier if I have more time to write** **)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Chapter 3 is out a bit early! I'm pretty happy with how this one came out even though I felt like the dialogue is moving a bit fast. Does anyone else feel that way? Regardless I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Also the note at the end will talk a bit about the show and how I feel it's been going. So if you wanna skip that feel free!**

* * *

Where Lies Originate

* * *

Two figures stood in a remote corner of the library. Their forms separate from the rambling of students attempting to study for their classes.

Jaune's blue eyes stared right back into Pyrrha's green pair. Sweat formed on his brow as he searched for an answer. His lips pressed firmly together, not allowing the words that formed on the forefront of his mind to leave them.

"Jaune..." Pyrrha started again but Jaune stopped her with a hand and a heavy sigh.

"I...I...look, I just want to start by saying I'm sorry." His words came out steady.

He recoiled a bit when Pyrrha grabbed his hands. "Don't apologize Jaune. Just tell me the truth." Her words took a more serious tone as she leveled a hard gaze at him. "How did you get into Beacon without having aura?"

Jaune held his legs as steady as he could, he could only pray that his shaking form wasn't too noticeable.

"I didn't go to Signal like most other students did." Jaune looked away towards the window. The trees were awash with the colors of fall. So vibrant. So bright. So...mocking of his current situation.

"I can tell." She held his hands firmly in her grip. "You would have had access to your aura if you did."

"I wanted to come to Beacon so badly. It was my dream to be a hero." His eyes closed this time. He couldn't bear to look at Pyrrha, the outside world, or even the room they were in. "I knew they wouldn't let me in without the proper credentials..."

Her eyes widened as she put the puzzle together. "...So you found a way to get those credentials..."

"I had someone forge me a set of fake transcripts." His voice came out hoarse and strained as he confirmed her thoughts.

"Jaune...you...you lied." Her jaw dropped to the floor and stayed there. Jaune had lied his way into Beacon. She didn't know what she had expected but this wasn't one of them she was sure. Jaune had seemed so honest and trustworthy...

"Pyrrh-" He finally turned his head to look at her.

"No." She let go of his hands and put her own up. "Just for this moment listen to me Jaune." He recoiled slightly as her eyes turned to hard steel. "You lied your way into this school for what? To be a hero? A hero doesn't lie Jaune."

His eyes fell to the floor but his heart beat them there as it sank through his body.

"I...I need some time to think about this Jaune." She closed her lips tightly, holding her words in.

"I'm sorry..." His word barely came out. As if his own lips were the bars that held his feelings prisoner.

"I know you are Jaune. Just let me have my time to think."

And with that Jaune's first official day of being a student at Beacon began. In the back of his mind he had known that his lie would surface but for it to happen so suddenly…

His head hung low as he made his way to his first class. It was early in the morning. Far too early but Pyrrha had insisted on having this conversation when no one would interrupt.

When he entered into Professor Ports he couldn't muster up any will to actually listen. All he could focus on was his already crumbling relationship with his partner.

His eyes just stared off, mindlessly following the professor as he garrulously recounted another tale regarding himself and some grimm.

All he could hope was that Pyrrha would find it within herself to forgive him.

* * *

"Did anyone notice something off about Jaune and Pyrrha today?" Ruby leaned across the table and whispered her words to the rest of her team.

"Yeah...they were sitting pretty far from each other in class today." Yang pursed her lips together in worry. Weiss looked up from the essay she was writing for Professor Oobleck's class.

"Maybe she's just realized how incompetent he is?" Her words bit like ice, causing the rest of the team to look at her sharply. Even the usually reserved Blake looked up at her and narrowed her eyes.

Weiss held up her hands in defense. "I'm not saying he's awful but we can all see that he's not exactly the best student out there..."

"We know that but cmon Weiss. Jaune's really nice, I just don't see why Pyrrha would be mad at him..." Ruby glanced across the library towards team JNPR, though really it was just team NPR with their leader sitting a fair ways away from the rest of them.

"Maybe there's another reason..."

"Blake, I think it's kind of obvious they had some kind of strange lover's spat." The blonde openly stared at split team, as though she could somehow read their thoughts if she simply stared hard enough.

"I doubt someone like Pyrrha would ever go for a buffoon like Jaune."

"Weiss!" Ruby waved one hand in front of the girl's face, trying to catch her words before they got too far. "Don't say things like that. What if they heard you."

"Rubes, if they hear anyone it's gonna be you." Yang snicked as the ice princess clawed at her little sister's hand.

"Gah!" Finally Weiss was able to remove the offending limb. "You dolt! Don't do things like that so suddenly. Anyways I still doubt it was anything," she gave Ruby a desolating look as she lowered her voice, "romantic."

"I think we should leave it alone for now. It's really not our business to interfere."

"Oh cmon Blake that's the boring way to look at it."

"No Yang, it's the mature wa-"

"Cmon and follow me! Ruby, stay here with Weiss and hold the fort!"

Yang grabbed her partner and weaved around tables and chairs, all the while keeping her eyes on her goal.

"Hey there vomit boy!" She dropped into the seat next to him and shot him a flashy grin.

"...hey Yang..." Her smile faltered for a moment at the sound of his voice. Not even Blake was that monotone.

"You doing alright there buddy?" Speaking of Blake, said girl was struggling to escape Yang's iron grip as she was pulled into the seat next to her.

"...yeah...I'm fine Yang, I just need some time to myself." He returned her grin with a small smile. She wasn't impressed.

"Yeah," She elongated her reply, letting the word linger in the air for several long seconds, "that's some bullshit Jaune. You're not doing fine at all."

"Yang I think he wants to be alone." Blake glared her blonde companion and shot Jaune a sympathetic glance, out of everyone, they had talked the least but she knew when someone needed to be alone.

Yang steamrolled through Blake's response.

"I'm just worried about you." Her grin disappeared as her voice took on a serious tone. "So is Ruby and I hate seeing her worried. If someone's been messing with you or something just let us know." Her knuckles cracked as her grin once again manifested itself on her face. "We got your back."

"Thanks Yang, I appreciate it a lot." He gave one daring glance towards the table his team sat at. Ren and Nora were doing their best to study...okay, Ren was studying while Nora did her best to distract him. Pyrrha was...staring blankly into a book. "And Blake is right, I just need some time to myself."

"Cmon Yang." It was Blake's turn to pull her partner away. She held firmly onto Yang's hand as she led them away from the boy.

She didn't know what happened between him and Pyrrha but from the downcast look he gave when his eyes landed on Pyrrha, it wasn't good at all.

"So what did you guys find out." Ruby nearly jumped out of her seat, leaning towards her sister.

"Not much, vomit boy wouldn't talk."

"It's definitely something about Pyrrha."

Ruby's eyebrows shot up at Blake's words. "How do you know that?"

"He looked in her direction and his face went bleaker than a history book on the faunus wars."

"But it's not a romantic thing right?" Yang rolled her eyes at Weiss' insitence.

"No, so you can stop worrying that mister tall, blonde, and scraggly is going to be stolen away from you." Both Ruby and Weiss shot up at the words in indignation.

"That's disgusting Yang! I would never," she paused as several students gave her a reproachful look, "allow myself to feel attraction towards an idiot like him." The rest of her sentence came out more as a quiet hiss than anything as she sat back down, dragging her teammate with her.

"Yang!" The blonde sibling gave her sister a single, raised eyebrow at her outburst.

"Yes baby sister?"

"She wouldn't...Not with Jaune of all people..." Ruby sat back down, her face crimson as she realized several library goers were staring at them now.

Yang paused before she unleashed her torrent of sisterly teasing. Did Ruby have a...crush...on Jaune of all people? There was absolutely no possible way. Ruby had GOOD taste, just like her older sister. And like she had said before, Jaune was cute, but not on their level...

…

…

…

Did Ruby even know what her level even was?

Oh God!

"Ru-"

"Jaune is leaving..." Blake interrupted before the blond bombshell could explode into her usual tirade.

"...You think he heard us?" Ruby looked worriedly at his retreating form.

"No Ruby I doubt that but anyways," Yang grabbed her sister's face and turned it towards her grinning own. "what's this new found interest in Jaune?"

"Yang!"

"Would both of you be quiet!"

"Weiss you're louder than the two of them…"

* * *

Tables away, Ren stared at the commotion brewing at table RWBY. He sighed and turned back to his textbook.

"Boop!" Nora stuck another finger into his cheek. "Gotcha again Ren! Geez it's like you're not even playing!"

"That's because I'm not Nora..." Ren murmured to nobody but the two of them.

"That's no good Ren!" A single eyebrow raised only slightly. Had she actually listened to his words for once? "That means you're reactions are too slow! We need to speed them up!"

No...No she hadn't. He sighed and turned to his other female teammate. Pyrrha Nikos, fighter extraordinaire and...not team leader surprisingly.

His actual leader, Jaune Arc, had been sitting at another table alone, clearly avoiding Pyrrha. His slouching stature and downcast eyes were all the signs Ren needed to see he was clearly depressed about something. The way he avoided Pyrrha's gaze and presence at all cost told him that 'something' involved their resident champion.

He had seen them get along quite well just yesterday so he was confused at to what could have happened in such a short period of time.

Pyrrha was definitely not talking, opting instead to stare at her book. He would say she was reading but she had been on page five of her history textbook for two straight hours so unless she was either incredibly slow at reading or blind, she was probable just thinking of something else and using the book to excuse her silence.

He watched as Pyrrha's head shot up, her eyes narrowing in worry and her lips twisting into a deeper frown. He trailed her gaze and saw his leader walking out of the library, head hung low and shoulders ever slouched.

He definitely needed to talk to Jaune about this obvious predicament. It wouldn't do their team any good for a feud to start between two members.

* * *

Pyrrha's eyes followed Jaune's retreating form as he left the library. As his figure turned a corner and disappeared she snapped out of her daze and went back to staring at her textbook.

She was still deep in thought about Jaune and his incredible lie.

Her mind had been swirling theory after theory as to how he had acquired documents strong enough to fool the brightest minds at Beacon and none of them were good.

He clearly had them forged by someone; she doubted he had to technical know-how to accomplish such a task on his own. If he had them forged by someone, the question became a matter of who…

She doubted grand forgery was a common skill and even then she had no knowledge of the criminals in Vale. She also couldn't go around asking people about the criminals in Vale without arousing suspicion so she was stuck at an impasse.

"Um...Pyrrha?" She looked up to see Ren and Nora staring at her, one with a raised eyebrow and the other a nervous smile. Ren continued, nodding his head at her book. "I don't know how badly written your textbook happens to be but I don't think it warrants that level of aggression..."

She now noticed how hard she had been gripping her history book. She had practically crumpled the 500 page textbook into a worthless wad of paper in her frustration.

"Oh..." She stared right back at them blankly. Her expert mind fired neuron after neuron attempting to come up with a response but all of its processing power was stuck on one Jaune Arc. "I...uh...I'm just tired is all."

"I...see..." Ren eyed the destroyed book warily. "Well maybe you should retire to the dorm room and rest for a bit."

"Yeah! You need to be in tip top shape for combat classes tomorrow so you don't wanna be distracted!" Nora returned to her usual self and gave Pyrrha a flashy double thumbs up.

She gave them an exhausted grin in return. "Yeah. That would be nice."

She got up out of her chair, returned the book to the librarian, and stalked off towards her dorm room. She needed more privacy to think about this matter.

As she stalked off she never noticed the worried look she garnered from her teammates' or team RWBY.

She also failed to hear the librarian's anguished cry over the destroyed reading material she had returned.

* * *

Jaune stared at his scroll and the number he had scrawled across a single piece of paper.

He had convinced himself that his fate was now out of his hands and that he needed to focus on what he could control. Namely his total and utter lack of skill. He doubted Pyrrha would help him at this point and he couldn't go to anyone else for help...save the individual who got him here in the first place.

Roman Torchwick…he put the scroll down for a moment as he contemplated his decision. He closed his eyes and made a mental list of what he knew about him.

He was a criminal. He was really good at forgery apparently. He was…um…he wore snappy looking clothes?

Fuck, he knew nothing about the guy! But...he needed training in some way and even if Pyrrha forgave him he doubted she would choose to train him now…

He made his resolution and dialed the numbers into his scroll.

It rang once, twice, three times...four times…five times…

"Is this guy seriously that-"

"Jauney boy!" Jaune froze as the arrogant voice practically oozed through his scroll's speaker. "You better have a real good reason to be disturbing me right now."

"...I was um..." He realized he hadn't actually thought up a way to properly ask Roman for his services again…

"You were um? I'm no doctor but that probably isn't healthy kid." Roman rolled his eyes. "Just spit it out. What. Do. You. Want?" His words were biting and Jaune could practically feel the criminal's snark as he emphasized each word.

"I need your services again..." He finally got the words out and took a deep breath. Hopefully Roman would-

"Again? Don't tell me the forgery failed kid. I know for a fact that it worked."

"Yeah, I need it ag-" Jaune paused for a moment in his speech and did a quick double take. "Wait how do you know for a fact that it worked?"

"Because I did it personally." It was Jaune's turn to roll his eyes now. So he didn't know 'for a fact' at all. He was just super arrogant.

"Okay, but look, I kind of need help now that I'm here."

"So let me take some wild guesses here kid." Miles away, Roman dismissed his goons and took a seat in his nicely lacquered chair, stolen, of course. "You got to Beacon and you realized you didn't have the skills to compete. Also you can't go to any teachers since it would arouse way too much suspicion and your fellow teammates are out for the exact same reason. You also don't know anyone in Vale who gives private lessons on combat, and they need to be private since no one can really find out about them. So you come to me. Your one and only source for underground products."

"...Yeah..."

"Well do you have more money?" Roman grinned, he already knew the answer.

"No..." A frown formed on Jaune's lips as he realized Roman would just tell him to fuck off. Without any lien he doubted Roman would even consider his request.

"Well boy...It sounds like you're in a bit of a pickle huh. Well let your good friend Roman help clear everything up." Jaune didn't like where this was going. His stomach turned as Roman kept talking. "You don't have the cash to fork over for these lessons kid but I think I've got the perfect deal for you."

Jaune's face twisted in fright as his mind slowly began to catch up to the situation. His words came out rushed and breathless, he had to derail this train of though immediately.

"Wait, I think I actually have some lie-"

"No no no kid. Trust me. You don't have the money but I've got this perfect solution." His fright turned to terror and his eyes widened in panic. "I need a couple favors from you."

Fuck. He was seriously going to end up owing Roman more than one favor and from the way he worded it, Jaune would end up owing quite a few.

"Look, Roman, I can come up with-"

"The deal aint changing kid. Either take it or leave it."

"..." His neck tensed and his breath hitched. If he accepted this there was really no backing out, Roman was way stronger than him presumably and reneging on his favors could lead to...unfavorable circumstances.

His heart sank even further as he realized he didn't have a choice in the matter.

This training wasn't something he could just skimp out on either. If he didn't get training he would be ousted as a fake instantly by everyone.

He swallowed audibly and spoke into his scroll. "Okay then, but wh-"

"Alright then kid. See you soon." Roman ended the call before Jaune could say anymore. He placed the scroll down and intertwined his fingers on his lap and closed his eyes. He felt a bead of sweat drip down his forehead as his mind swirled with scheme after scheme. His whole life had been based around the concept of complete control. That and fashion but still, control was very important to him.

Ever since Cinder had entered the picture he had lost all of it; his control over his organization, his control over his goons, and his control over the underground dust market, just poof, gone and taken from his grasp. He felt less like a boss and more like one of his goons, and that was absolutely not acceptable.

But, if Cinder wanted to take all he had built up...well...he would just build more, without her knowledge of course.

He stuck his hands into his pockets, fishing out a cigar and a lighter. Chewing one end in his mouth and lighting the other with ardent flame, he took a deep drag, allowing the smoke to fill his lungs to the brim and linger for a moment before exhaling deeply.

 _-It's gonna be a lot of work…-_

Of course it would, he let smoke leave his lips as he twisted his lips into a smirk. The game was only beginning and as long as he kept his hand hidden from prying eyes he was sure he would come out on top.

His single cigar glowed low and deep in the darkness of his warehouse. Roman leaned back in his chair, propped his feet up onto his desk, and closed his eyes.

He was working real hard recently, stealing and scheming all the time for Cinder.

It was high time that he took some time off and do some scheming for himself.

After all, a criminal mastermind such as him deserved the attention.

* * *

In the hallways leading to several teams dorm rooms, a silent Pyrrha Nikos stared at the floor as her feet carried her closer to her destination.

 _-Jaune said that his entire desire to come here stemmed from wanting to be a hero...but if that was the case why didn't he just work harder to come here?-_

She had been trying her best to understand Jaune and his predicament for the better part of the day now but found herself gaining no ground. Always a master of controlling her emotions, Pyrrha's outward behavior merely mimicked a girl in deep thought, regardless of her inner turmoil.

 _-Jaune doesn't seem like the type of person who would ever aim to harm someone so I doubt he came here for nefarious purposes though...so that means he probably did come here to be a-_

"Ah!" She was bounced out of her thoughts when she collided with another person in the hallway. As she trailed her eyes upwards, Pyrrha found herself face to face with Beacon's own headmaster.

"Miss Nikos, lost in thought I presume?" His words came out calm and soothing. He had noted before that Pyrrha seemed quite occupied with something and he was certain it had something to do with either mister Arc or her team in general.

"Oh. Sorry professor...I'm just...really focused on something like you said..." She attempted to brush past him, intent on getting to her room but found her way impeded by a thin cane.

"Is it something you feel the administration should know?" He was used to using less direct measures with students but with miss Nikos he was certain that would get him nowhere.

"No!" Her response came fast and rapid like her hands as she waved them in dismissal. "I was just thinking about..." Her words trailed off, she couldn't mention Jaune lest she arouse his suspicions so she simply let her sentence awkwardly die off.

"Thinking about what now? Well, if you'll entertain an experienced teacher, does it have something to do with a student here?" He noted her face went deathly paler than usual…

"Not a student no." She was so incredibly bad at lying. She could practically feel the headmaster's complete disbelief. No way he would choose to simply let this go now.

"Well miss Nikos, whatever trouble you're having with mister Arc I can only assure you that it will all pass in time. You're both young and have plenty of time to grow together."

"What!" Color raced to her cheeks at what his words implied. She looked him in the eyes and saw his mirth dance between his pupils. "Me and Jaune aren't having that kind of problem!"

"So it does involve him then..." His smile remained constant as he stared at her. She squirmed under his gaze as his eyes bored down on her with unexpected strength.

"No..."

"Oh really now...well I must have simply read the signs wrong. My apologies miss Nikos."

She turned to see his figure walking languidly away from her. She had gotten away with it...She couldn't believe that he was simply letting her leave without further questioning. She was free to go back to her own thoughts now on Jaune. Alone. With only herself to consult…

She turned to look at his retreating form, swallowed hard and made her decision. And besides, if she couldn't trust a professor to give her a good answer, who could she trust?

In an impulsive decision, she reached out and tapped his shoulder, prompting him to stop and return his gaze to her.

"Yes?"

"Professor, assume you met someone you thought was a certain kind of person, but ended up being completely different. How would you react?"

Ozpin contemplated her question. Jaune Arc was not the kind of person she thought he was? What had prompted this line of thinking he was clueless but no matter the issue, he would be sure to keep this conversation private for the time being.

"Well, you never know a person completely until you've been around them long enough." He rested his body on his cane as he spoke. First impressions always meant so little to him. Anyone could fake what they were like for a scant few moments. "People change and no one is ever perfectly good or bad. The world is filled with different shades of color and there's nothing wrong with that."

Her heart wrenched as her words came out. "But what if they lied to you...what then..."

He raised an eyebrow as he observed her downcast expression. He was so familiar with that look. He had seen it so many times on so many young, idealistic people.

"Everyone lies miss Nikos."

Her head shot up and her face was twisted in disbelief at his words. How could the headmaster say that! She knew everybody lied but Jaune's lie was...was...unforgivable? No, it was completely forgivable and her own hesitation to completely write him off and abandon him showed that. Was it malicious? No again, he simply wanted to be a hero, like most people who had come here.

At the end of it all, it was just a lie. An intricate one that probably had layers upon layers of lies hidden underneath and above, but at the core of it all...it was just a lie like any other.

"Miss Nikos," Her eyes connected with his own and she noticed now tired he looked all of a sudden. As though he had lived through moments like this so many more times than she knew. "the most blatant lie a person can tell is saying he or she is not a liar. Some lies can be terrible, some can help, but many are simply negligible. You decide where on that scale that lie resides."

He was far too well versed in lies to tell her anything but the truth ironically enough. Lies were a tool, one inherently malicious yes, but a tool nonetheless. And even he knew how to use his tools.

"Thank you professor..." She shot him a small smile and straightened her posture. "I need to go find someone so if you'll excuse me now." She waited until the headmaster nodded at her to go along before taking off down the hallway the way she had originally come.

He sipped his coffee, watching her young form take off like a lightning bolt.

"...Interesting"

He made his way down the hallway, cane in one hand and coffee mug in the other.

Checking his watch, he hastened his pace, Bartholomew was expecting him for the weekly coffee appreciation meeting and it wouldn't do him any good to be late.

* * *

Jaune froze as a hand landed on his shoulder and gripped tightly. He turned to ice completely when Pyrrha's voice sounded from behind him.

"Lets talk Jaune." She dragged him of from his previous location, sulking outside sitting under a large statue of a hunter, back to their dorm room.

"Pyrrha. Look I just want to tell you that I'm-"

"Jaune." She shut him up with a smile and a hug before continuing. "I'm sorry. I know you said you came here to be a hero but I couldn't fathom why you would resort to something illegal instead of just going through the legal procedures." She took a deep breath before continuing. "But I never gave you the chance to explain why which is why we're here. Jaune I want to know everything. Please"

He stared into her neon green eyes. She was giving him a chance...She wasn't planning on just condemning him and picking a new partner! He couldn't waste this chance.

"My family never wanted me to be a hunter Pyrrha...Unlike everyone else in the family I was never given formal training. I...I was given some minor support but my parents always voiced their doubts." He closed his eyes as memories resurfaced. His heart wrenched every time his siblings went off to train alongside his parents and he was left behind. "I don't know why and they never wanted to give me an answer but I wanted to show them wrong I guess. It's selfish I know, but I wanted to be something other than what they wanted me to be. I wanted to be the hero they thought I couldn't be."

Her own mind trailed back to thoughts of her father's pride in her accomplishments. How they would introduce her like she was some trophy they had somehow won. She thought of how she chose to leave Mistral for Vale, intent on making a new family who valued her as a person.

"Jaune, I...I'm sorry to hear that."

"No Pyrrha, I'm sorry I lied to you." He gave her a hopeful smile which she returned easily. "I was hoping, once we got most of this out of the way, we could still be friends."

She grinned and gave him a tight hug. "I'd like that Jaune."

His chest felt warm as he returned her embrace. Jaune closed his eyes and tightened his grip on her, this was probably the first girl aside from his family members he had ever hugged period and he found himself enjoying the feeling. Sure, they were just friends and he wasn't too sure if she fully forgave him, but it was definitely a great start.

Eventually it was Pyrrha who ended the hug, arms folding across her chest before continuing to speak.

"That still leaves the fact that you need to be trained Jaune." Jaune's eyes widened as her words. "I think we should do supplemental lessons every night. You need to learn how to wield your aura and weapons if you want to keep up with the other students here."

He withheld his deal with Roman and simply opted to listen to her speak. Maybe he could cancel his deal after all.

"Okay but what times would we do this?"

"Sometime at around eight or nine pm should work out. Saturdays can be reserved as a resting day and a day to catch up on homework." He nodded at the plan. It sounded pretty strict but he would do anything to catch up.

Pyrrha sighed as they headed back towards their dorm room together. It all turned out fine and she was looking forward to training Jaune in the coming future. She glanced out the windows as they walked down the hall, the leaves exploded in a cacophony of vibrant color mirroring herself.

Ren merely smiled at the two as they returned. Nora exploded out of her bed and wrapped herself around the two, asking where they had been and inviting them to play a rousing game of sloths and more sloths, a game of her own invention.

Slowly, the blonde leader extracted himself from the fun, intent of washing up and going to bed, it had been one hell of a day and he was ready to sleep it off.

* * *

 **A/N: So Jaune got his secret ousted a bit early than in the show, pretty much the third day of him being there and the second day of him being an actual student. I'm not going to explain why I did it like this but I always felt that it was so weird everyone just accepted his incompetence. Like it never really got brought up in any serious manner.**

 **Roman's got plans for days. Neo still hasn't shown up but absolutely will in the next chapter. Sorry! This chapter went slightly different from my outline but not majorly so.**

 **Leave a review detailing who you would want to see as a pairing in this story. I just want to see what people want though it probably won't decide what the end pairing is.**

* * *

 **DIALOGUE ON THE SHOW:**

 **Alright so I finally wrapped up the final episode of this volume and I gotta say it was better than I expected. They definitely decided to finally start exploring the more mature side of their universe which I'm a massive fan of. Pyrrha dying was completely expected and while it was sad I thought, like most people it seems, that it was a great choice to continue the plot. Canon Pyrrha was pretty much just Jaune's living, breathing wheelchair, carrying him through every situation.**

 **Just want to know, does anyone else feel like Roman isn't dead? Unless they actually did confirm it on the podcast and I missed it, I feel like their going to bring him back in some meaningful way. I don't really mind if he died but I kind of wished that they had at least made it official like Pyrrha.**

 **Man I'm happy to see that they've taken steps to really introduce a deeper story than what was originally presented, so I can't wait for volume 4 to start!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Well here is chapter 4. Quite a bit longer than some of the previous chapters and I'm quite glad about that. Oh! Before I forget, one reviewer pointed out a logical disconnect in chapter one that he saw.**

 **Thank you to wbrendon89!**

 **I changed the chapter now so it makes a slight bit more sense just for you.**

 **If anyone finds more logical faults throughout the story feel free to leave a review stating what it is!**

* * *

Easy Till It Aint

* * *

Jaune collapsed to his knees, sweat pouring out of every pore across his body. His sword and shield clattered pitifully to the floor. Pyrrha stared him down, her own weapons poised for the killing blow.

The two stared at each other for a moment before Pyrrha sighed and lowered her weapons to her side.

"Jaune, you need to widen your stance a bit and lower your center of gravity." She clicked her tongue at him and smiled. "That's why you keep getting thrown off balance."

He got to his feet slowly, Pyrrha had been working him like a dog and it had only been the first night. "I feel like that's not the only problem..."

"What do you mean?" Her eyes widened only the smallest amount as she cocked her head to the side.

"I don-." He almost fell to the floor a second time when his legs gave out from under him but Pyrrha swiftly caught him mid descent. "Ugh...don't worry bout Pyr."

He rubbed a palm over his abused shoulders. He lost count of how many times Pyrrha had slammed him into the floor like some kind of rag doll but it was more than enough to kill any pride he might have had in his abilities.

"Well lets take a break from sparring for now." The red haired champion helped him lurch over to a bench where he could rest. She set him down gently and sat next to him, legs crossed and smile ever present.

As though she hadn't just sent him through the proverbial grinder.

He couldn't believe just how strong the champion was. He knew she was talented but she moved so much faster than him he couldn't believe it. They say you need to see something to believe it and Pyrrha, well...she moved a fair bit faster than he could perceive.

"I thought," Jaune gasped for breath as he leaned back and wiped more sweat from his brow, "we would start with techniques and stances or something." His breathing didn't let up even as he flashed her a grin. "Didn't think you would start with this." He spread his arms, drawing attention to the numerous scrapes and dents littering his armor.

Pyrrha simply rolled her eyes and poked him in the chest. "Well I wanted to know exactly what we were working with before I started any lessons."

"And..."

"Well..." She paused for a moment, how could she word this so he wouldn't take it as a personal insult? "You're not hopeless Jaune, lets get that out of the way first." She moved her hand onto his shoulder and squeezed lightly. "You're just very inexperienced. You have good instinct and your reactions are above average. Once you've mastered basic techniques for sword play you'll be able to face most of the students here and do relatively okay."

"So," Jaune gave her a deadpan stare, "in summation, I really suck and need to learn how to fight?"

"...That's not what I said."

"Can you look me in the eye and say that?"

"I did!"

"You need to keep eye contact for the entire statement Pyrrha."

She rolled her eyes and stood up to stretch her limbs. "Alright that's enough rest! We should get started on some basic training."

His eyebrows scrunched in confusion. "I thought that's what we were doing right now?" He noted her smile got noticeably more Yang-like. It didn't bode well at all for him.

"I said that was an evaluation Jaune." Her face remained ever calm but he could see the mirth dancing between her eyes. "The real training starts now."

As she dragged him back onto the training floor despite his protesting, Jaune couldn't help but smile. He was in a terrific mood now that he and Pyrrha had moved on past his initial mistake. Her enthusiasm to teach him fighting techniques was a refreshing change of pace from his parents own reluctance.

As she barked out instructions to him and he clumsily followed along, they found themselves grinning with each other.

Everything really had turned out for the better.

* * *

"Argh!" Roman slammed his head into his desk. "Could things get any worse?"

Across his desk were several maps, each one had a host of locations either circled or crossed out. Lines connected even more locations and illegible notes scrawled across the margins between cities and countries.

"Um...is this a bad time boss?" His head shot back up as one of his peons entered his presence. He narrowed his eyes and gave him a withering glare. He felt a certain satisfaction as the unfortunate messenger took a step back in appropriately stammered out apologies for disturbing him.

"Let me ask you something," Roman languidly rose out of his seat, all the while keeping complete and unwavering eye contact with the bulky, suited up goon. "When you heard me slam my head into the desk and shout expletives, did you think it was good sign to interrupt me?"

"Um..."

Roman cut him off immediately.

"No, actually don't answer that. I doubt you even followed half of what I just said so I'll spell out what your answer should be." He raised his cane and rapped it against the man's skull. "The answer," he spread his arms wide and leaned in as though he was telling him some great secret, "is 'no', it was absolutely not a good time."

"O-okay..." The poor messengers voice stammered out as Roman's gaze forced him to shrink further in. "It's just that-"

"It's just what!" Roman was about two more stammers away from simply firing an explosive round into the man's-

"Cinderishereandshewantstoseeyou!" His words came out in a garbled mess. He shut his eyes preparing for the wrath of his boss to overtake him. Instead all he heard was the clattering of a cane meeting the floor. He cracked one eye open to see his boss open jawed and wide eyed. Despite every signal in his brain telling him to stop, the goon opened his mouth. "You...you alright boss?"

Roman picked up his cane and carefully inspected it, it wouldn't do for it to have any blemishes otherwise he would have to get a new one immediately. He straightened his coat, fished another cigar out from his pocket, stuck it between his teeth, and lit it.

The goon could only stare at his boss. What had happened? He had literally just done a complete 180 shift in his mood and went from ready-to-kill to calm-and-cool. "Um...bo-"

"How long has she been waiting?"

"She just got here."

"Any idea what she wants?" He blew a long cloud of smoke out of his lungs as though he had somehow 'seen this shit' one too many times.

"No...she seemed kind of upset though."

He held the smoke in this time, letting it rest in his lungs for far longer than was appropriate or healthy. Though smoking wasn't really healthy at all. "Really now? What makes you say that?"

"She didn't knock this time. The door sorta just turned into ash. Still all smiles though..."

"Uh huh...smiles...right."

"Yeah..."

"Fuck me." Roman closed his eyes and slapped his palm to his head. What the hell was she doing here now? She never came here unless it was bad news for him. She considered it beneath her to spend time in the presence of 'low life miscreants and common criminals'.

"Well I guess I should go greet her now." Idly swinging his cane, Roman strut towards the door.

"So what shou-" The goon was interrupted when Roman casually stuck the end of his cane into his mouth.

"Don't speak, don't bother us, and most importantly, don't cause trouble." He emphasized his words by removing his cane from the goons mouth and slapping it on the floor.

"...ow…" The suited man rubbed his abused jaw and watched as his boss was swallowed by the darkness of the hallway. Though when he thought about it, despite how rough Roman could be, he was far better company than that Cinder woman, he thought to himself.

"Ah!" He screamed when said boss shot an explosive round into the room, beckoning him to leave it immediately.

Needless to say, he obeyed.

* * *

"Roman..." He kept his gaze on her eyes even as her silky voice beckoned him to look elsewhere. Years of experience had shown him what women could do to unsuspecting men should they falter. He was no unsuspecting man however so his eyes remained firmly glued to her her own, unblinking in their determination.

"Why exactly are you here Cinder?" He noticed how her eyes narrowed only for the briefest of moments, how her forearms tensed a bit more than usual, how the temperature of the room rose just the slightest degree.

"It is not your place to ask questions Roman. I do," she walked, no, she stalked forwards, every step punctuating a new word, "what I want to do."

A single bead of sweat formed on his forehead. Her body was an inferno, even though she wasn't even touching him he could feel it.

It was like standing just far enough from a bonfire so the ice cold of the world and the searing heat of the fire met midway through your body. Freezing you from behind, keeping you from moving back, while burning you from the front, making it impossible to move forwards.

"I...see..." A tongue swept over chapped lips, hydrating them for only the briefest of moments.

"But," the heat disappeared and the cold of the warehouse returned, Roman welcomed it heartily with a relieved sigh. "I am here to ask you a question, my dear Roman."

"And what might that be?"

"Why has my dust supply stopped growing?" Her single question was punctuated with a return to the blisteringly uncomfortable heat. Despite the discomfort though, he refused to break his gaze or take a step back. He knew what happened to the weak in this world and he refused to be counted among them.

"Because dear," the temperature shot up more than just a few notches as her eyes fully narrowed, "dust shipments to Vale slowed down immensely as of recent. Turns out fewer and fewer people are willing to ship to Vale when they know there's a good chance it'll go 'missing'."

"The Schnee Dust Company has their own shipping methods and they are still going strong. Why have you not aimed your," she made an uncharacteristic show of emotion as a sneer formed on her face at the thought of his 'low life criminals', "forces at those shipments?"

"Because of what you just said. They have their own shipping means and also their own shipping...insurance." He held back his eye roll and instead kept solid eye contact and blew a cloud of smoke to the side. "Insurance being the SPSD; Schnee Professional Security Division."

"And this little security group is a problem?" The heat began to turn, creating currents where there were none before. Her face remained calm and collected, a complete antithesis to their surrounding.

"Believe it or not, my goons over here aren't equipped to handle high tech security forces like the SPSD." The turning currents were a welcome change from the stifling heat that had directly preceded them but were still uncomfortable. He shifted slightly and grimaced as he felt his slacks stick to his sweaty legs.

"Oh really now, is your group really that ill-equipped?" The heat disappeared in an instant again but was replaced by Cinder's cold smirk as she lifted a hand to cup his cheek. "Or is it their leader who's 'ill-equipped'."

He nearly broke composure at the insult but instead let the tobacco fill his lungs again, calming him down. Though blowing the smoke over Cinder's head so obviously was clearly an insult in itself, or at least she took it that way, judging by how his cigar disappeared into ash instantly.

"Ah..."He looked remorsefully at the wasted cigar. "Well dear," he emphasized the 'dear' very hard this time, "first and foremost I'm a thief, not a robber. So of course I don't have weapons of mass destruction to match the military might of an Atlas owned company."

"Oh, and pray tell, what is the difference between a thief and a robber?"

"Robbing is done with a gun, thieving is done with a brain." He rolled his eyes this time, smirking right back at her. "I steal things dear and the world knows it, but until recently I've never been one for excessive violence."

"So you're too much of a coward to confront anything head on is what I'm hearing."

"No-"

"Quiet." Her word was final and Roman recognized the end of their conversation by silencing himself. "I don't care what the world used to think of you Roman. I don't care that you're not a 'robber'. You will get those dust shipments from the Schnee," She placed the palm of her hand onto his chest. In Roman's defense, he didn't flinch, even as the elegant hand reached scorching levels of heat. "or you will pay the price."

She walked briskly away, leaving a scorch mark on Roman's otherwise immaculate white suit. His eyes trailed her until her form disappeared. He sighed and poked at his burnt clothes.

"Ugh..." She was such a difficult person to deal with, not even the other crime lords were as bad as her. He grimaced as he felt the sticky sweat clinging to his body.

He needed a damn shower.

"Um...boss?" Roman's eyes snapped up to see his goon standing in the corner of the room, rivulets of sweat ran down his face. "What sh-"

"Go back to whatever the hell you were doing before you moron!" He slammed his cane into the wall, embedding it through the reinforced steel.

"G-Got it boss!" He ran off, wondering what the hell kind of life choices he had made to lead him to this point. Whatever they were, he was seriously regretting them now.

Crazy flame woman, angry super criminal boss, and now he was hearing rumors that they would have to start working with legit psychopaths soon…

He sighed again and looked at his knockoff Atlesian Digitech Watch, it was already midnight…

…

He really wasn't paid enough for this shit.

* * *

"But the nevermore stood no chance once it had fallen to the forest ground! I quickly made my way over, pectorals flexing and glisten-"

"Psst! Pyrrha..." Near the back of the room, Jaune Arc turned his head ever so slightly towards his partner. Pyrrha flicked her eyes at him for a brief moment before returning them to their...bombastic professor.

"Yes Jaune?" Her voice was barely audible over the sounds of Peter Port stomping across the room while shouting and whooping at every vaguely remembered hit and strike.

"Do you understand a single thing he's said so far?"

"...It's important to pay attention Jaune. He's a full fledged hunter and I'm sure he has a cacophony of knowledge-"

"BUT USING THE STRENGTH OF MY IMMENSE BICEPS, I QUICKLY-" Peter's voice rang across the room as he reached the climax of his tale. Several students were startled awake and nearly rose out of their seats at the sharp increase in volume. Blake Belladonna chose instead to cower deeper into her seat as she massaged the top of her skull. Her blond partner could only give her a pitying look of confusion. The sound must have given her a headache.

"…Jaune I'm sure these tales have some intrinsic value we're just not seeing..."

"So you're admitting you haven't understood a single thing either aren't you." Jaune said his words with a sort of finality that had even Pyrrha sighing and nodding in acceptance. Even she was having a hard time understanding what bulging pectorals and immense biceps had to do with Grimm theory.

Jaune turned his attention to the other two members of his team. "What about you Ren?"

"Huh?" Ren looked up from his notebook in confusion.

"Do you know what he's talking about?" Jaune tilted his head towards the professor, who was now mimicking a some wrestling situation he had found himself in with the nevermore.

"Jaune...I don't think the professor even knows what he's talking about at this point." As polite as Ren wanted to be, he had reached the limits of his patience a long time ago with the professors lessons. It was clear he wasn't going to be learning too much in this class so he had written it off as a class where he could catch up on studying.

"What about Nora?"

Ren sighed and turned his body slightly, allowing both Jaune and Pyrrha to gaze upon their fourth and final teammate. Surprisingly she was wide awake and seemed to actually be paying attention. In fact she was very actively punching alongside every hit the professor professed to land on the Grimm.

Pyrrha let out a quiet giggle at her antics while Jaune opted to simply bury his head into his hands, his shoulders shaking with laughter. Ren rolled his eyes and his lips formed into a tiny smile.

"SO AS WE END OUR LESSON WE COME TO ONE SINGLE QUESTION! WHO HERE WANTS TO PROVE THEIR METTLE!"

Team JNPR returned their gaze to the front of the class as the lesson had finally seemed to come to an end. Jaune sighed in relief. Now that the lesson was over he and the rest of his team could-

"I DO!" Jaune never got to finish his thought since the surprisingly loud answer caused him to slam his knee cap into the hard wooden desk. Pyrrha and Ren openly stared at him, unlike the rest of the class who was focused on the white haired heiress.

His knee, protected by aura, had actually embedded itself into the desk.

"Um...guys..." Jaune pressed down on his thigh but his knee was firm in its decision to remain one with the desk. Pyrrha shooed his hand away but hesitated when her own hand hovered over his leg. She blushed a bit before letting her palm rest on his thigh.

At the front of the class, Weiss Schnee slammed the tip of her blade into the spinning boarbatusk, only to be battered aside as it continued forwards through her attack.

"Weiss! Aim for it's underside."

"I don't need your help you dweeb!" Weiss shouted back.

Jaune could vaguely make out Ruby and Weiss' voices but was far too focused on the warm sensation pressing against his right leg.

"Pyr-urk!" Jaune lurched forwards when Pyrrha slammed her hand down with aura augmented power, causing his entire torso to slam straight into the desk. A massive, single crack appeared across the desk where Jaune's skull had impacted into it.

"Oh god, Jaune!"

Away from the commotion of team JNPR, Weiss Schnee knocked the grimm onto its back and stabbed her rapier through its underbelly.

The class cheered at the display of skill, though team RWBY's leader only gave a halfhearted yell of support before sinking into her chair once more.

Yang clapped absentmindedly as she gave her sister a worried look. "You okay there little sister?"

"Yeah..."

"Hey," she wrapped an arm around her shoulder and nudged her a bit, "what's wrong?"

"I'll tell you later..." Ruby maneuvered away from her sisters embrace and instead chose to gather her belongings and immediately leave the classroom with the rest of the students.

"Huh...Ruby alright?" Blake sided up next to her unusually quiet partner. Blake already knew the Schnee heiress had a history of being difficult but she had been a bit more cold as of recent.

"No, she clearly isn't. I'm gonna go have a...talk with little ice princess over there." Yang bristled as her eyes trailed the white haired heiress out the door.

"Excuse us!" Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha were shoving their way through the door while carrying an unconscious Jaune Arc. Blake and Yang openly stared at them as did several other students. Pyrrha's face matched her hair while Ren slid Jaune onto his back. Nora was busy clearing a path for her team...with her hammer…

"Well...I'm gonna go find Weiss and have that talk." Yang got up out of her chair and pushed passed the gaggle of students, intent on getting her 'talk'. Blake merely sighed and made her way to Pyrrha.

"What happened to Jaune?" She glanced over to his unconscious form before raising an eye at Pyrrha.

"Oh! He's just...um...really tired is all." Pyrrha laughed nervously and rubbed a palm against her forearms. It was a harmless lie and telling people she had knocked him out so easily probably wouldn't help his image, so she decided to do her best to keep it a secret.

"His forehead has a lump the size of a mountain." Blake merely pointed at the unconscious boy as he was carried away. "Is he tired because he didn't sleep or tired because he got hit by a bullhead?"

"Ahaha well you know, he's been training." Her laugh came out sharp and barking. "Like really hard!"

"Uh huh...so Ren is taking him back to your guys' dorm room?"

"...Yes..."

"Really now..." Blake smirked. It wasn't every day you got to tease a champion fighter so she wanted to savor the moment. "So if I went to the infirmary, like right now, I wouldn't see him there?"

"You're not injured though!"

"But Jaune is?" Pyrrha let out a tired sigh. She placed her hand up to her face in embarrassment and peaked through her fingers at Blake.

"I'm just gonna head to the infirmary now. What about you?" She looked around for the rest of team RWBY. Unable to find them, Pyrrha rested her gaze on Blake's still smirking form. "Where's your team?"

"They're occupied right now I think. I'll head with you there. So what happened to Jaune, really?"

"It's really not all that interesting of a story!"

"I'll be the judge of that."

Pyrrha and Blake walked down the hallway, towards the infirmary and the rest of team JNPR. Laughter filled the corridor as Blake heard their team antics.

* * *

"So you slammed into a table and he got knocked out?" Blake held her arms across her chest as she interrogated Jaune. She rolled her eyes in mirth and looked over at Pyrrha. "How hard did you knock him into it?"

"…Very hard..."

"How did no one else hear it?"

"Good question, my guess is that everyone was too focused with Weiss and her fight."

"Ugh...what did I miss while I was out?" Everyone turned to look at the blonde leader as he shakily stood up out of the medical cot. He shot Pyrrha two very weak thumbs up. "Don't worry about knocking me out either."

She sighed in relief. Thank goodness he didn't hold grudges. "Thanks Ja-"

"It'll probably happen again anyways!" Blake laughed at the exchange and decided to answer his question since Pyrrha was too busy stuttering out more apologies.

"You didn't miss much. Weiss fought a grimm in class and that's about it."

"What about the rest of your team? Where are they?" Jaune looked over Blake's shoulder, searching for the usually unmissable team.

"I don't know. They're probably alright though."

Ruby Rose sat in a dark hallway alone, poking her fingers into the ground as the gears in her brain twisted and ground against each other.

"Seemed a bit annoyed at each other though."

Weiss Schnee stabbed Myrtenaster through another dummy bot in the training room, flicking her wrist she sent ice shards flying around her blade, obliterating the poor training machine.

"But I'm sure they'll be able to work it out together."

On the other end of the campus, Yang stormed through student after student as she searched for Weiss Schnee. Grabbing one student she aimed a fist at his crotch and let fire surround her. "WHERE'S WEISS?!"

"Oh." The pristine, white walls of the infirmary held no secrets for Jaune as he stared at them for a moment. He nodded to himself before making up his mind. "You think it has to do Weiss-"

"Being mean to Ruby? Yes. Absolutely." Blake's expression turned slightly sour as she tightened her posture.

"Why is Weiss being mean to Ruby? She's a nice girl." Pyrrha raised her eyebrow at the comment before shuffling her way to Jaune's side.

"I think that-"

"It's her arrogance." The oriental boy stared right back at his teammates and Blake when they turned to look at him. He sighed, blinked slowly, and spoke again. "Weiss clearly believes herself to be Ruby's superior so the fact that Ruby had been made team leader is unconscionable to her."

"Weiss isn't that...petty." Pyrrha's slender finger went to her chin as she thought deeper about it. She turned to Blake with an inquisitive look. "Is she?"

"I'm pretty sure it's spot on." For the cat faunus, it was a no-brainier. Weiss Schnee being arrogant was like tuna being tasty. It was a natural state of being and completely expected.

"Man, I feel bad for Ruby then." It was one thing for Weiss to be a bit jealous or let down that she didn't get the position she wanted, but to simply believe that Ruby didn't deserve it out of some strange sense of personal pride and ego; it was quite telling. Though, when he thought about it, he really wasn't one to judge since it wasn't like he was squeaky clean either.

"You should. But, once again, I'm actually pretty confident they can work it out."

"Why do you say that?"

"They all seem like the type of people who learn to understand each other through...aggressive situations." The White Fang had introduced her to a cacophony of people in the past and some of them started off hating each other. Hell, even Adam himself hated her from the beginning but eventually…

She cut her thoughts off abruptly and threw them into her brains garbage disposal unit. It wasn't good to dwell on the past like that. Adam made his choices and she, her own. As long as they didn't cross paths, she would do her best to forget him.

"Well, I'm sure you know them better than we do." Jaune yawned as he looked at the time, already six in the afternoon. He only had two more hours before he and Pyrrha began their nightly lesson. It was already Friday now. The longer he lingered on that thought the more and more he felt as though he had forgotten about something…

Something important.

…

Well, he figured that whatever it was would come to him with time. No use wasting brain power thinking about how he might have forgotten something.

Instead, he chose to follow the rest of his team in their quest to help Blake find the rest of her teammates. It's not like he had anything to do until eight anyways.

* * *

She felt a single drop of sweat roll down her cheek as she held her perfect stance. Myrtenaster held steady and firm, it's tip pointed towards the training bot. In a single, quiet lunge, Weiss stabbed her rapier through steel armor.

"Miss Schnee, quite the marvelous display of skill!" She jumped as Peter Port's grandiloquent voice sounded from behind her. Unlike many students, she had already heard many of the tales he spoke of from her family, so to her, he was given a relatively high level of respect. So she straightened her combat skirt, put her weapon away, and faced him in full before addressing him.

"Thank you professor." She curtsied at the compliment, as was custom.

"Please child, no need to be so formal with me! I'm not that much older!" He beamed at her as he rubbed his mustache...his graying mustache…Nonetheless, Port took a look at the twisted metal littering the training room floor, several students had left when Weiss had come storming in like a blizzard, fearing the wrath of the Schnee heiress.

"Oh...um...okay then?" Weiss shifted her feet a bit in impatience. She desperately wanted to return to her robot elimination therapy.

After several minutes of silence, Weiss finally broke the silence. "Profe-"

"Arrogant."

"Wh-what?" Weiss sputtered at his sudden interruption. Who was he calling arrogant? It couldn't be her. She was always told by her sister that arrogance was only a word used by those who couldn't understand a person's skill and strength. Professor Port was a hunter, surely he understood…

"You, Weiss Schnee, are quite arrogant." He continued to rub his mustache as he spoke. "I know what it's like, to be stronger than the ones around you."

Weiss couldn't speak, her jaw stayed hanging as he continued speaking.

"You're angry at your leader aren't you? Ruby Rose am I correct?" He closed his eyes and pinched the corner of his mustache. He twisted it endlessly around his index finger as he recalled countless stories of his youth.

"I'm not mad at-" He cut her off with a wave of his hand.

"Yes you are. I can already tell what it is that you're feeling." He turned to face her, his voice dropped low and his jaw clenched. A memory surfaced from the depths of his mind; his team, his arrogance, his choice, his anguish. He shook the old regrets away and instead focused on the girl before him. "You feel that Ruby Rose does not deserve her position as leader."

"..." Weiss couldn't answer. She knew how she felt but saying it out loud to a professor felt damning. As though she was tossing either herself or Ruby into a chasm where they could not return from.

"You don't need to say it out loud student, the silence is telling enough." He sighed and crossed his arms across his barrel chest. "You come from the Schnee family, do you not?"

"Ye-Yes professor." Her voice came out quiet and subdued. It wasn't fair. She was supposed to be the best. A proper Schnee was not someone who followed but was followed. She trained her whole life to be the best and now her chance to be something was taken by a child younger and less experienced than herself. How could she possibly be okay with it.

"Schnee's always lead. A saying I hear that's popular with your family."

"Yes…I-I guess it is."

"Ridiculous." He rolled his eyes at her gasp of surprise. Her wide eyes and hand-covered-mouth was enough for him to know what kind of upbringing she had been through. The Schnee kind. "What makes Ruby less qualified to be leader than you young child?"

"Because she-she's," Her shoulders shook as thoughts bubbled up to the surface of her mind, "she's just a kid! And she's young! And she's inexperienced! And I've been taught how to lead! And she's just-just..." Her voice petered off and died a more silent death.

"Just what?" He let her have her time to think. For all the advice he could give, it would do no good if she did not come to them on her own. Schnee's had a history of never taking advice from others regardless of their position or power. He doubted she was too different, but perhaps she could still be taught better.

"And she's just not as good as I am..." Weiss enclosed her arms around her torso and let hot tears drip to the floor. She had been completely fine with being teamed with Ruby, she was a nice kid. But she had left Atlas because she thought that she would truly excel if she simply got away from the judging eyes of her family. Instead though, she was simply another student, not even the leader of her own team. Just another failure, unfit for the Schnee name.

"And being a leader has something to do with being more skilled?" All he could do is put a single hand on her shaking shoulder. It had been hard for him as well, realizing that leadership was not linked with power. "Miss Schnee, leaders are not chosen based on their battle prowess, had that been the case, I would have been leader of my team."

She looked up at him when he finished his words. He wasn't...leader? But he was supposed to be **The** Peter Port, sure he was a bit stranger than what her sister had implied but still. He had accumulated several accolades and awards of bravery and heroism. While his stories were boring to many students, including her, they were still mostly truth from what she could tell. He was the first hunter to ever catch live grimm. He was the first hunter to ever fight and kill a goliath. He was the first hunter to do so many things.

This decorated man wasn't...leader?

It baffled her.

"No, my leader was another student. One that was far weaker than me." He idly pulled his handkerchief and handed it to her. Weiss' eyes were red with tears but were locked onto him as he continued to talk. "I remember those days. I was, if you'll excuse the shameless self-glorification, a prodigy student."

He motioned for her to walk with him as he left the training room floor.

"But, if you were so good, why weren't you leader?"

"Once again miss Schnee, leaders are not chosen based on their battle prowess. I was hot headed, arrogant, and unable to comprehend my fellow teammates limits as well as I could my own." They entered an empty hallway where his voice bounced off the walls and echoed down them. "When we went on a particular mission to clear out a grimm infested sector of the forest, I was shown exactly why I wasn't leader."

He paused before continuing.

"The grimm were numerous but nothing we couldn't deal with. A few beowolves and some boarbatusks simply put." They found themselves standing in an open balcony, the cool air pushed passed them, into the darkened hallway. Peter noted Glynda walking across the campus while levitating a struggling Yang Xiao-Long alongside her. "Until we ran into a lone goliath grimm, it had been separated from the pack. What do you know of goliaths young girl?"

"Not much." She admitted it quite easily, while she had been taught of many grimm types, her sister never touched on some of the more dangerous types, goliaths were one of them.

"The number of goliaths killed in recorded history can be numbered with the fingers on your hands." He breathed the cool night air, his mind went back in time with the smell of fall filling his nostrils. "My leader ordered us to back out and call for immediate reinforcements. I thought that we could take it down if we simply worked together. I had no plan of attack other than to attack. I had no knowledge of how strong that grimm was. I was woefully unprepared and arrogant. So I struck, intent on proving my skill and prowess."

His hands clenched onto the railing.

"Can you guess what happened to me?"

"You...lost?"

"Hm..." He simply rolled up his left sleeve, the entire arm, excluding his hand and wrist, was disgustingly discolored and twisted. Black, purple, and green were splashed around it as though some child had decided to use the limb for a finger paint project. The flesh itself seemed to fuse into one sheet near the elbow with no crease lines where there should have been. Weiss recoiled at the sight. "I didn't just lose, miss Schnee, I almost died. If my leader hadn't knocked me out of the way of a stray blow..." He let the thought linger in the air. "My arm was still clipped and shattered in three locations. The skin was torn off like latex, leaving it bare to the elements."

"Oh god professor…I'm so sorr-"

"My leader was not as lucky, while I was simply clipped by the blow, he took the entirety of it." His voice shook ever so slightly, Peter took a deep breath as he stared into the night sky overlooking Beacon. It had a calming effect on him. "You can imagine what happened." He pushed the gruesome image out of his mind and kept going "My arrogance is what killed him miss Schnee. Being a better fighter means nothing if you don't understand how to control your engagements and for a leader, controlling an engagement has nothing to do with personal skill."

"But the whole point of being a better fighter is to control your fights..." Weiss felt confused, his words were registering but she didn't understand them. Being stronger, faster, and better trained meant you could handle any engagement better than someone who was lesser in those areas. Right?

"No, being a better fighter simply means you can win a fight. Being a good leader is about making those around you win the fight. Pray tell, what would your strategy have been to defeat the nevermore at initiation?"

"Well I would have used my ice dust to send spears into its wings, forcing it to land. From there I would probably use my glyphs to out maneuver it an-"

"Do you see the issue yet? I asked you for a strategy and the first thing you did was focus on what you could do and how you could beat it. You weren't even considering your teammates and how you could utilize them to succeed." Weiss closed her eyes and let her head fall.

"I...I see..."

"Do you now?"

"Ruby was made leader because, while she did make some mistakes early on, she was willing to put aside her personal skills and utilize each of us where she thought we were best. To her, it was obvious that she and I remain out of direct combat until the grimm could be attacked directly. She wasn't thinking about what she could do personally, it was about what we as a team could do."

"Exactly miss Schnee." He could see the understanding flash in her eyes. He felt content now. As long as she understood what he was trying to tell her, he was confident that they would accomplish great things.

"I-I need to go find Ruby professor, if you'll excuse me now." She bowed her head and left immediately. He simply waved his hand at her as she disappeared down the hallway. He smiled and rolled his sleeve back down, covering his arm once more from the world around him.

He stared back over the school campus. Sure, at first when Ozpin had approached him about teaching he had been reluctant but now he saw why that man treasured his position as a teacher so much.

If even one student was saved by whatever knowledge they taught, then all the struggle they had gone through, all the painful experiences, and all the stress was made worth it.

It was late now though, and he was ready to retire back to his room.

Though he promised himself to pay Glynda a visit later and inquire as to what had happened with the blonde student.

* * *

Expensive heels clicked on the floor as Weiss approached the downcast girl. She nervously reached out and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Ruby..." Weiss started carefully and quietly. "Look...I-I'm..." The words refused to come out of her mouth. It was so difficult, she found, to put aside her pride for once and admit that she was in the wrong. She forced the apprehension back into the dark pit of her stomach and started speaking again. "Ruby, I'm sorry."

The girl whipped her head up to stare at her teammate. Had she just apologized? To her?

Weiss caught sight of the girls eyes and noted the red lining around them. Had she seriously somehow forgotten that Ruby, for all of her talent and prowess, was still just a child?

"I know that I've been," she paused, her mind searched for the proper words, "really mean as of late." She would have used a different set of words but Ruby was still only 15 and she had no intention of fouling her mind with uncouth words.

Ruby merely nodded before going back gazing at the floor.

"I just want you to know that professor Port talked to me, and no he didn't flirt with me like he did your sister," Weiss cringed as Ruby's expression remained unchanged, "but anyways, he explained how arr-arro-" the word pushed out of her mouth like concrete through a lead pipe, "-arrogant I was being."

She took a seat next to the girl and tentatively wrapped her arm around her young leader's shoulders. Her own sister, Winter, use to do the same when no one was around and it had made her feel all the more safer and secure. Hopefully it would do the same for her.

Ruby leaned in to the awkward hug. Her voice came out muffled as she leaned her face into Weiss' shirt.

"Why do you hate me?" Weiss' tightened her hold as her heart clenched.

"I don't hate you Ruby." Ruby's tear soaked eyes looked up at her and scrunched up as she continued speaking through hiccups.

"But you always insult me and call my ideas stupid and dumb, we've only known each other for like a week. Why?" The answer came easily this time for Weiss, admitting her mistakes was far easier after she had already started.

"Because I was jealous Ruby." Ruby stared at her, the tears stopped as her mind registered what she had said.

"But why? You're like super cool and strong and pretty an-"

"Ruby," she cut the girl off before she could continue, she felt her ego rearing it's ugly head again and decided to crush it down before it could fully manifest itself, "you're far more talented than me for one, you're only 15 and you got into Beacon Academy, also the boys find your sister far more attractive, and Blake has people wanting to talk to her constantly after what happened in Professor Oobleck's class."

Weiss took a deep breath after finishing her little rant. It was tough, admitting people were better than her, but she would do it for Ruby.

"So you don't hate me?" Weiss smiled at her. She really was just a kid in the grand scheme of things.

"Of course not. So am I forgiven?" Weiss held her breath, hopefully her apology had rectified the situation and she hadn't passed the arbitrary line of no return.

"Mmmmm…Nope!" Ruby giggled at Weiss' gobsmacked look. "You have to buy me some cookies this weekend from the Vale Emporium of Baked Goods!"

Weiss let out a sigh of relief, her heart had almost dropped through the floor at that moment. "Cookies aren't healthy for a growing young girl you know!"

"Yang says they're okay for me!"

"Exactly!"

Both of them giggled as they thought about Yang and her personality.

The laughter petered off slowly as the realization came to them.

Weiss checked her scroll for the time.

It was well past midnight now.

Yang had a pretty strict Ruby-In-Bed-Before-Midnight rule.

…

Neither spoke, instead letting their stampeding feet do the talking as they sprinted back towards their dorm room, hopefully Yang wouldn't be too mad at their lateness.

* * *

"Well then, this can only go well, can't it." Sarcasm oozed through each word. His gaze rested on the bickering group of criminals gathered at his warehouse.

The White Fang; the largest terrorist organization to have ever existed, the primary reason why Schnee Security had upped its game in recent years, and incredibly, as Roman now saw, the most poorly ran criminal organization in the world.

There was no discipline or order, only chaos. They shouted freely and picked fights with each other at random.

Cinder expected him to use these banshee sounding fools to rob some of the most well protected dust shipments in Vale.

"Fuck you!"

"No fuck you!"

Two faunus charged each other, the rest cheering them on. Roman simply watched, his own gang had been sent out to scope out the protected shipments while he dealt with the White Fang. He held no delusions that his group would work with an organization like the White Fang easily. So he did the obvious thing and separated them.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!"

"You have got to be kidding me!" Roman slammed a palm on his face.

Suddenly a single finger pressed itself against his chest. As he opened his mouth to berate whoever had interrupted his languishing, a spoon found itself in his mouth.

Chocolate. He swallowed the ice cream and looked down.

A small girl raised a single eyebrow at him and gestured to the gathered crowd. When he shrugged his shoulders, she silently snorted in derision and rolled her eyes at him.

"Well Neo, whaddya think!" He stretched one arm out over the gathering. As fists were flung and bodies were thrown, Neo simply locked her mismatchd eyes with his and stuck the cold, metal spoon back in her mouth before pokeing Roman in the chest again.

"What?" He was already tired and having to deal with the zoo gathered at his doorstep did little to improve his mood. Neo merely pointed back at her empty bowl. "So? Get some more from the fridge!"

She shook her head and stamped on the floor.

"You ate all of it already? Neo I told you to portion those out!"

She pouted and reached for one of his pockets. Roman was too quick though and slapped her hand away lightly.

"You can't use my money to buy more!" She glowered at him as he secured his wallet. "Just wait until I'm done okay! It's gonna take some time to get these buffoons to listen to me." She scowled even more before disappearing with the sound of shattering glass.

For all the benefits that came with her, the problems were just as numerous. Roman pinched the bridge of his nose. She was great to have around but the constant drain on his expenses was beginning to get out of hand. Ever since he bought her ice cream the first time to shut her up she hadn't stopped pestering him to buy more.

And she had a tendency of asking him for more at the worst times too...

He sighed and turned to the crowd once again, clearing his throat he shouted into his microphone.

"LIS-"

His words were cut short when the ceiling shattered like glass and caved in on the faunus. The multitude panicked and ran for the doors which were blocked off from the falling debris. As tons of rock, concrete, and steel fell, the White Fang members could only watch as death approached closer and closer.

Roman, having seen this before, merely sighed as Neo appeared once again in front of him. The illusion disappeared and the faunus remained deathly quiet and immensely confused.

She poked his pocket once again.

"Ugh...Fine." He handed his wallet over to the smiling girl and rubbed his temples. "Just don't spend too much this time!" He shouted before her form shattered entirely and disappeared.

He turned back to the microphone and cleared his throat.

"Well. It's good to see you're all paying attention now." The faunus turned to him, many openly sneered as they looked upon the 'pathetic' human, "Well, I hope you were all paying attention in animal daycare," several faunus drew their weapons, "since your boss, Adam Taurus, has given me command over all of you." He pointed his finger and dragged it across the crowd.

"Fuck you!" A girl with goat horns shouted at him and the tumult began. Several more joined in the shouting.

"Human scum!"

"Racist pig!"

"Die in a fire!"

Roman raised his cane into the air and slammed it back into the floor. The shouting ended immediately. No need to waste ammo when most lowlife idiots listened to the thundering of his cane just as well.

"Oh good, that got your attention. Like I said, your boss," he once again waved his hand over the gathered individuals, "has given me," he exaggeratedly rested his palm on his chest, "control," he let his hands emulate a child playing video games, "over all of you," he flashed two index fingers at them in finality, "understood?"

It was like talking to children...and Roman hated children. He groaned out loud as some of the gathered faunus shouted expletives at him.

It was gonna be a long night.

Hopefully he still had some of that Mistral Fire Blood wine. Named for its intense flavor and color. It was his favorite and while he didn't drink it too often-he ducked as a shoe flew past him-it was looking like a wine night.

He shot an explosive round into the air, stifling some while rousing others.

 _-Well...Mother always said it's easy till it ain't.-_

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **-REPLYING TO SOME REVIEWS** **-**

 **So apparently Roman is fully dead then according to his voice actors. Thank you to NBased, Dracohalo117, and** **Dark RAYQUAZA X for that information! Whether he dies in my story or not remains to be seen however.**

 **Vimesenthusiast: Ah I see. I guess it makes sense that I would be wrong considering most of my RWBY community is just myself, some friends, and some authors I follow here on this website. Honestly I kind of agree with you on the Ozpin being strangely incompetent thing. He just didn't seem to see obvious signs but then again, he is limited to his small circle of the world while I get to see everything happen at once being a viewer and all.**

 **Dark RAYQUAZA X: Really now? They said "what you saw is what happens"? With RT that really opens the door for some RvB ghostly shenanigans. Well I'm certain they'll be able to keep me interested regardless of what happens so I'm looking forwards to volume 4.**

 **-END REPLIES** **-**

 **So this chapter comes to a close and I'm overall pretty happy about it. Ruby crying just kind of happened as I was writing this. In cannon she's only fifteen when she enters and while she may be a super strong fifteen year old, her mental capacity and strength should be that of a fifteen year old. Constant verbal abuse from someone you're constantly with mixed with the stress of being made a leader should have taken its toll on her far harder than it did in cannon. But that's just my opinion and I'm free to have my viewpoint changed at any time.**

 **Next chapter will finally have Jaune, Roman, and Neo meeting up so I hope you all look forwards to that!**

 **The Professors of Beacon are all going to have their own personal history in this story that will come out with time but you got a peek at Ports in this chapter. In the whole World of Remnant episode about Grimm it states how grimm are notoriously hard to contain due to their destructive behavior. However we see Port bring one in like its nothing and while it's just a simple boarbatusk I still believe that it shows he's done it before and has experience in that field.**

* * *

 **So to all of you who pay attention to American politics, have you seen what's been going on recently? It's been an insane show hasn't it? Between the GOP coming out and basically admitting that they're aiming to steal the nomination and Hillary being investigated by the FBI, it's seriously the most interesting election cycle thus far!**

 **So, if you're an American citizen who is old enough to vote, GO OUT DO SO! YOUR VOTE MATTERS ALL THE MORE THIS CYCLE!**

 **Aside from political talk, would anyone be interested in a second story by me?**

 **If so, tell me what kind and I'll throw it into the think tank for a spin.**

 **Next Update: April 1st**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** **Funny story about this chapter is that it took a lot longer to write than I thought it would. I just kept getting side tracked with other stuff and work went to hell when a blizzard hit my city. Hilariously I still had to go to work so I got to drive through a snowstorm with shitty, all-season tires. By the way, don't get all-season tires. They suck so much. Either get winter tires or buy some chains.**

 **Anyways, here's chapter five for all of you to enjoy!**

* * *

Criminal Endeavors

* * *

Dark.

That's was Jaune's first impression as he stepped out of the car onto the pavement. The whole warehouse was pitch black, no light entered the massive metal structure nor did it leave. A burly guard laid a massive hand on his shoulder and walked him through the doors.

Crates stacked on crates went high towards the ceiling. Men were busy cataloging, sorting, and shifting each one of them before men driving forklifts would lift one up and move it to an unknown area.

"Woa-"

"Keep it moving!" Jaune stumbled as the man shoved him along. Clearly they didn't want him sight seeing here but it was difficult for Jaune not to stare. He had never seen anything quite so organized. They moved like robots, so efficient and methodical.

And to think, Roman was at the head of all of this.

"Alright, boss is right through these doors kid. Here's some advic-"

"Don't get him mad?" Jaune cut him off.

"No, he's probably gonna get frustrated at you regardless." Well wasn't that just perfect for him. A frustrated Roman; perfect. "Just try not to speak unless he directly asks a question. Also keep your answers short."

Jaune nodded and looked straight ahead, they were approaching his office now.

When Roman had called Jaune earlier and told him to come and meet him in Vale he nearly had a panic attack. Over the course of the week he had completely forgotten that he had an arrangement with the criminal mastermind and had been hoping to have a relaxing weekend in the city. Maybe go see a few sights, hang out with his team…

Maybe get a date with a cute girl.

Instead he got this. A muscled, scary, and clearly violent thug leading him to his even scarier and more violent boss.

Awesome.

"Alright kid, you're up and I'm out." He pushed Jaune towards the door and motioned for him to go inside. The young man gingerly grasped the metal handle, it was cold as ice and the dark atmosphere definitely wasn't helping him now. A lump formed in his throat as he hesitated. He forced it down and twisted the handle and forced his legs to lead him into the room.

He heard the guard's voice sounding behind him one last time.

"And try not to piss off the short on-URK!"

"What?" Jaune whipped his head around but the door was already shut. What was that about a short one? And what made him grunt so loudly?

"You gonna face me anytime soon kid?" Jaune turned around to meet the man who had gotten him into his dream school. He always wondered what Roman looked like. It was a question in the back of his mind for a while but he never really paid it any thought since it wasn't exactly all that important. But now that he was here, his imagination ran wild. What if he was some really overweight gang lord like on TV? As Roman came to the edges of his peripheral vision, Jaune prepared himself for the worst.

…

Fancy.

That was definitely the first word to describe the man sitting in his ornate oaken desk, not that Jaune had any way of knowing that it was oak. From his suit to his cane, Roman seemed like the type of guy who cared about his appearance more than his own mother and father.

Seconds ticked by though neither had a clock. Roman continued to stare him down, an elegant eyebrow raised as his lips twisted to a frown.

Jaune felt sweat roll down his forehead. The pressure he was feeling was too much. Roman wasn't saying anything and he had no clue what to say either. He should have just stayed in his room. He shouldn't have left Beacon. Hell, he should have never taken the deal, he should have stayed home, where criminal masterminds weren't just bearing down on him and his-

"So!" Jaune's thoughts were abruptly interrupted as Roman suddenly smiled and stood up. "You want combat training huh kid?"

"Actually-"

"Say no more! I've got this great regime that's really going to get your skill up to par with every other little brat in that school." Jaune tried to get his point in but the Roman express kept barreling through. He had to explain that he didn't need training anymore and that the deal was off before Roman got too far.

"No, Rom-"

"You'll be tearing the other stu-I mean grimm apart in no time!" Roman caught his slip and amended his statement. It wouldn't do well to have Jaune be so suspicious.

"I don-"

"No need to thank me kid! I know that you don't have money but trust me, I've got a payment option for you that you're gonna love." Beacon Academy; a bastion of light in a world where darkness reigned. He needed access if he wanted his plans to go off without a hitch.

"Actua-"

"I've even got a little helper to-OW!" Roman and Jaune both stopped when a girl manifested from shattered air and elbowed Roman hard in the ribs. Roman rubbed his side gingerly and glared openly at the girl. That had seriously hurt…

Jaune could have seized the moment to speak but he was too distracted by the new arrival. Her hair swirled with three different colors and her eyes changed color with every blink. Her lips formed into a smirk and she twirled her umbrella as their eyes met. She was definitely a sight to behold and Jaune found himself dumbstruck.

"I-I um..."

"Neo, what the hell! I was telling him about out deal!" Neo shook her head in amusement slightly, never taking her eyes off the young man. While many people gave her curious glances due to the hair and eyes, not many people ever openly stared at her for so long. She scoffed when he finally averted his gaze, ever so slowly, to look back at Roman.

She kept her eyes trained on him, however.

Roman grumbled and returned his attention to the situation at hand. "So you ready to start kid?"

That snapped Jaune right out of his thoughts and brought him back down to Remnant.

"No. I was trying to tell you, I...um...I don't really need your training anymore."

"Mmhmm?"

"Yeah, I-I found someone to help me out..." Jaune's voice trailed off as Roman's bemused expression didn't change a single bit. He had expected surprise, hell even some anger, but Roman just kept smiling at him. It was kind of creepy.

…

No, definitely creepy.

"So yeah...I'm just gonna le-"

"And who exactly is training you?" This was unexpected but Roman had planned for it. It wasn't every day that he was allowed to use a contingency plan, his plan 'A's' tended to work just fine so he wanted to savor this moment.

"Um..." He wasn't too keen on telling them that Pyrrha was training him. He was certain that Roman knew who she was and even if he didn't, he was sure to find out without much effort. The girl was on the cover of every Pumpkin Pete's Cereal Box in the country, so he wouldn't exactly need to put any effort into it. "One of the other students."

That was vague enough.

"So a teammate of yours? Probably your partner but I could be wrong." Jaune froze, maybe not vague enough. Okay, maybe he could steer Roman in the wrong direction.

"Ac-Actually, it's someone from another team! A guy!"

"So a girl on your team then."

…

Fuck, why was he so bad at lying?

"Look, kid." Roman walked to Jaune's side and put his hand around his shoulder. "I know you think that you're gonna be fine but ask yourself this, can this student of yours really help you?"

Jaune gave the question some thought, for a second, then two.

Yeah.

She was a champion for a reason anyways.

"Yea-"

"The answer is no kid. Whatever qualifications you think this little-that wasn't even directed to you Neo!" Roman cringed a bit when Neo poked him from afar with her umbrella, Jaune could only stand there, still as a statue. "-helper of yours has, I promise you, it won't be enough."

Jaune resisted the temptation to roll his eyes, it wasn't like it was hard though. He was standing right next to Roman for the love of God. Either way though, Roman didn't know it was Pyrrha and he was certain that if he knew...well, he probably wouldn't say she was 'lacking' in qualifications.

"You could have the most prodigious student in history teaching you and they wouldn't be able to give you the experience I could."

Pyrrha was a champion, she had plenty of experience. He was certain of that.

"Students don't have experience fighting in the real world kid. Especially beginner students at a hunter academy. Kids who come from schools like Sanctum or Signal are only ever allowed to fight while heavily supervised."

Pyrrha had killed those grimm in the Emerald forest with ease! Those massive, angry...and completely standard beowolves…

"Learning how to fight is great kid, I think you should keep it up," Roman's smirk grew as he saw Jaune's face crunch up in confusion. He was getting to him, slowly but surely he was. "but this little student teacher of yours is never going to help you learn how to stand in the face of real danger."

Pyrrha was teaching him how to fight! She was going to teach him...teach him...how to swing his sword? Block a blow?

…

All in a controlled and safe environment where there was no danger and no grimm.

"Look kid, you'll get better at fighting other students for sure." Roman moved back to Neo's side and shrugged his shoulders. He let out a strong sigh and frowned. "But grimm don't fight like students. Hell, most criminals don't fight like students do."

Jaune let out an audible gulp. That was true wasn't it. Pyrrha was an expert fighter who excelled at fighting students. She was probably great at fighting grimm as well but if all they ever did was spar together or against other students…

Where would that leave him?

"How about this kid," Roman went ahead and opened the door to his office. He ignored the single guard crumpled on the floor moaning in pain. Instead he just threw Neo another curious glance. "You can leave right now, right here, and we can call off the deal. But you gotta think about it, where else are you going to get real combat experience from?"

"Ah..." Jaune took a step to the door but stopped. He could leave. Roman was just giving him the opportunity. He should take it! But...the thought lingered in his mind. Wasn't Roman right? It wasn't like he was saying anything untrue or completely fictional. Lots of people, including his own parents, said that experience was the best teacher.

Sure he had stood up to some grimm back in the forest but...aside from standing up to it and not freezing up, what had he really accomplished?

"Well?" Roman kept smiling, even as he spread a hand towards the dark hallway. His smile grew wider as Jaune walked up to the doorway and stopped, as though it were covered by some impassable and invisible barrier.

"..."

Neo poked Roman in the ribs again. This Jaune guy was taking way too long to come up with an answer for her liking. She tapped her foot impatiently on the floor, waiting for Roman's response.

Roman, however, was far too busy with his own thoughts. The boy wouldn't leave, that much was obvious, all he had to do was wait it out. Any second now Jaune would turn around, and ask-

"What's the training going to be like?"

And there it was.

"Well, kid. Does that mean you're in?" Jaune shivered a bit as the voice wormed its way into his brain. It didn't bode well for him but what choice did he have? Leave and stay woefully unprepared? He was already viciously behind and he needed every bit of practical experience he could get his hands on.

"Yes." It was the finality in his answer that surprised Jaune. He didn't stutter nor did he hesitate this time with his response. It was as though his body had made up its mind ages ago and his brain had just caught up.

"Perfect!" Roman clapped his hands together and grabbed Jaune by the shoulders before leading him to a chair in the office. He gestured for him to take a seat while taking one across the desk from him. He shot Neo a look telling her to prepare the training room he had cordoned off from the rest of the warehouse.

She shrugged and pointed one finger at Jaune while shaking her head. Roman waved one hand at her, beckoning her to leave her doubts for the moment and listen to him.

Air shattered as she left and the two were alone once again.

"So then," Roman tapped his index finger on his table. A light thudding noise sounded through the room. It had been a while since he felt this way, since he felt so good about things, since he felt in control, "lets make a schedule shall we?"

He had forgotten the feeling after Cinder came along, but it was coming back to him now.

"Yeah. I-I guess we should do that right. By the way, who was that girl?"

He laughed lightly at the question. Trust a teen boy to ask about a girl while dealing with a known criminal. "Don't worry about her just yet, you'll meet her again soon kid."

"Oh...Okay then."

It felt good to be in control.

No.

It was addicting.

* * *

Walking down the sidewalk in a leisurely manner, Blake Belladonna brushed past a conversing couple, took a left at the nearest intersection, and found herself face to face with one of Vale's lesser known bookstores, at least that's what the lack of reviews and information told her.

Tuskson's Book Trade. Gold letters emblazoned across a dark green background. She approved of the classy looking color scheme.

Blake loved going to these local bookstores instead of the larger national chains. Larger chains attracted larger crowds and for a girl like Blake, large crowds were a big no-no.

So she straightened her outfit, if she was going to keep coming here it would be good to leave a good first impression, and headed through the unlocked entrance.

"Hello and welcome to Tukson's Book Trade, home to every book under the sun! How may I help you!" Blake was taken aback at the cheerful and very loud greeting. Most bookstores owners were the more silent and reserved type due to the nature of their business, so being greeted in such a way was definitely...unexpected.

Though, it wasn't a bad sign at all, she thought to herself. After all, that could just mean he was really passionate about books like her but happened to show it a different way.

Her greeter finally showed himself as he came out from a doorway near the register presumably leading to his office.

"I'm just looking for a book." No need to let him know what she was looking for. After all, she could probably find it on her own.

"Just looking for a book huh?" Tukson let out a hearty laugh and winked at the pretty girl. "Well look around and see if you find it! I'm sure it'll be there somewhere."

"Thank you." A small grin found its way onto her face, she would finally get the peace and quiet she had been looking for so long. At long last the loud and vocal Yang couldn't tear her away from her musings-

"Good luck!"

Blake nodded as she meandered through the store, trying her best to look at random books and aisles as she slowly reached her destination.

The adults section.

Back at the counter, Tukson flipped through the pages of The Vale Post newspaper. All the same, he kept an eye on the girl who had entered his store. It wasn't because he thought she would steal anything, no, it was solely for the humor.

Her being slightly cute was just a plus but he was certain she was far too young for him.

So he settled on the humor instead.

"Knew it." He whispered to himself as she 'accidentally' found herself in the adult aisle of his store. Her look of surprise didn't fool him at all.

He never understood how people always came to his store looking for what basically amounted to porn in written form but always tried to play it off as some kind of I'm-so-surprised-I-found-something-like-this-here reaction. Tukson chuckled as she went into phase two, the I'm-only-flipping-through-these-pages because I want to know what kind of pervert would write this.

Maybe he would just break the news to her and let her know that her act wasn't ever going to fool a single soul. It would be the kind thing to do.

It would also break the humor and after hours of sitting in an office with nothing to do he was feeling especially bored.

Leave her be it was.

He continued his observation of her as she flipped through the book rapidly, as though she weren't reading any of it. She brought a hand to her mouth as she reached a particularly _interesting_ scene, her face flushed and her bow twitched.

…

Tukson openly stared this time, she wasn't paying attention to him so it was probably safe. He paid special attention to her bow this time.

 _-There it is!-_

The bow moved again and Tukson snickered to himself. She was hiding her faunus ears under a bow to presumably hide her sub-conscious reaction to what she was reading. Most faunus that came in to read those _particular_ novels, if you could really call them that, had distinct and more obvious reactions than non-faunus'. Some had tails that wagged a bit harder, others had feathers that bristled, and other still had ears that either wiggled or twitched.

And there's phase three, Remnant we have achieved lift off. Blake shut the book and made her way to the counter. He quickly busied himself and went back to reading page 12c of The Vale Post, a fascinating point of view on the merits of Vale capital trade laws in comparison to Atlesian social economics.

A real page turner indeed.

As the girl finally reached his counter, Tukson put his newspaper down and gave her his full attention, acting as though he hadn't seen what book she brought up to him.

"So you find what you're looking for?" Oh this was going to be good, he could already tell by her red face.

"No, I-um-I didn't find exactly what I was looking for but I found something else instead." Of course she hadn't found 'exactly' what she had been looking for. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes, the girl was far too shy to play this off right.

He took the book into his hands and a thought flashed to his mind.

Now, he could simply ignore what book she was buying and let her go, or he could make it obvious that he knew what she was buying and further embarrass the poor kid.

Embarrassing her would probably lose him a customer, so the logical side of his brain decided against that course of action.

"Ninjas of Love huh." The rest of his bored brain took command, kicking logic out the window and wresting the controls for itself. "Good choice, lots of people have been picking this one up."

She flushed red as a tomato.

"Ye-Yeah. I just found it and it didn't seem all that bad." Blake calmed herself down, no need to be embarrassed she told herself. It was just a book and it wasn't like this Tukson man would know anyone she knew.

"Yeah, I haven't read it before," total lie on his part but no need for her to know that, "is it any good?"

"It's a girly book." He rolled his eyes and placed the book in a plastic bag before handing it to the girl. Of course she labeled it a 'girly' book, they always did.

"I see." He raised an eyebrow at her. Impressively, she met his gaze just a strong, blush finally seeping away from her cheeks. He grinned. "Well guess that means it aint for me huh."

He paused before continuing, would it be a good idea, he thought to himself, to show his faunus traits. He had a tendency to hide them from people for good reason but since she was a faunus there probably wasn't any harm.

So as he handed her a receipt, he let his claws out and waited for her reaction.

"..." She held onto the receipt but didn't retract her hand, instead staring at his.

"You alright there?"

"You're a faunus?" The surprise in her voice caught him off guard, it was like she had never seen a faunus working in a bookstore before.

In her defense, she really hadn't. Most faunus she knew were either in Beacon, the Schnee Dust mines, or the White Fang. It just felt strange to her to see a faunus just working like any other normal human. Adam always said that faunus couldn't work normal jobs like humans could due to the discriminatory laws. He slammed the thought that Faunus and humans were completely separate in 'regular' society to her and…

Man she really had spent a lot of time with them now that she thought about it.

"Yeah, aren't you?" She was taken aback at his statement. How had he figured it out so easily? Her disguise was perfect. It hid her faunus qualities well and didn't attract too much attention.

"How did you know?"

He rubbed the back of his head as he laughed lightly. Would he tell her that he had been keeping an eye on her? Would that make him sound too creepy? Pretty sure his reputation would take one hell of a hit if his top review ended up being: 'spies on younger girls in his shop'.

So he went with the half-truth.

"Your bow twitches every now and then. So either you have phenomenal control over your scalp muscles, which I'm not sure is possible, or you have another set of ears hidden underneath."

"Oh." Her bow twitched? That was certainly unexpected, why would he even notice something like that when it was such an inconspicuous and tiny action? "Do you just watch for these kinds of things or..."

Shit. Okay, so she was getting suspicious. Time to follow dad's age old advice with women, deny all plausible guilt.

"No, I'm just pretty observant when it comes to my customers." Not a total lie and denies any possibility that he's a creeper. Strong, solid alibi in his book.

"That makes sense I guess." It kind of did, to her at least. He probably kept an eye out for thieves and other unruly customers. "So how long have you been working here?"

"Couple of years. Not too long now. I actually started the store when-" Maybe telling her about his White Fang affiliations would be a bad idea, so he decided to keep it to a minimum and let her fill the holes. "-I decided to go down the straight path."

Blake nodded, she understood fully how it could be for faunus across Remnant. Stealing, lying, cheating were all common among faunus due to their mistreatment by humans. Many turned to crime after realizing that they would never be treated fairly in any industry job.

But that was in Atlas…Vale was, different it seemed.

"So, why a bookstore?"

"Used to love books back when I was younger. It was one of the few ways to cope with, well, everything I guess."

Once again, another feature she could relate to. Books had been her way of escaping the cruelty of the world around her as a child. They opened the door to fantasy worlds so idealistic and charming to her young mind. She threw herself into these universes with abandon, ignoring what went on around her.

She looked back fondly on those days sometimes. When she could ignore discrimination with fantasy.

Adam had broken her out of that habit, hadn't he.

"So what's it like in Vale?" An innocent question, but it would tell her so much.

"It's okay I guess. One of the more boring cities if you know what I mean. Not much ever happens around here." That was...actually a good sign. Boring meant no one really paid him any more mind than they would anyone else. Boring meant that it wasn't dangerous for him to walk around in the streets.

Boring was good.

"Ah, are there any faunus hangouts?"

"Er..." The only 'hangouts' he knew of were White Fang gatherings and he didn't feel like getting a kid involved with something so dangerous. "Not that I really know of."

"Well that's unfortunate." She smiled at him. "I'll be taking my stuff now, gotta get back to school and all." Her hand waved through the air as she walked out the door and back out into the city. She was definitely coming back here when she had the time.

It was nice to see that faunus could work decent, regular jobs out here in Vale.

As the door closed, Tukson stopped waving his arm and let it rest on the table. She was a nice kid, probably went to one of the high schools around the area.

Probably just trying to live a normal life here in the city, maybe came from a hellhole place like Atlas.

Probably glad that faunus here could work normal jobs.

Probably innocent, a clean slate.

Just like every faunus the White Fang indoctrinated.

…

God damn it.

He knew that the White Fang had a gathering here in the city and were spreading the word quickly. If they got to her, it would be simple for them to infect her mind with the crazed ideologies of human degeneracy and faunus superiority. They would turn her into another radical soldier, ready to die for a cause that preached hatred.

He could try to save her though. Keep her from that kind of fate, the one that he had taken for himself so many years ago.

But he was so close to leaving now…

Everything was planned out and in perfect detail. The White Fang had no plans to mess with him since he had given them no reason to think he was going to be truant for any amount of time, but if he got caught directly interfering with recruitment plans, well, word on the street had it that Adam Taurus had a nasty habit of quite literally ripping the faunus right out of you.

One. Trait. At. A. Time.

 _Shit…_ He thought to himself as his claws dug into the desk.

What the hell was he supposed to do?

* * *

Jaune flew across the room like an arrow. A bang sounded as he impacted against a stack of boxes.

"Wow, you suck kid." Roman chuckled as he swung his cane in circles, Neo was seated on a crate near the only entrance, laughing silently as Jaune got pummeled into the floor by her boss.

"I don't understand what makes this different from the sparring I get with my partner." Jaune groaned as he stood back up out of the wreckage. He had earned more than a few bruises while 'training' with Roman.

"Look kid, who's the expert fighter here, me or you?"

Jaune glared at him as he walked back to the center of the room, back to where Roman was leaning on his cane, smirking. They had been doing this for so long that Jaune had lost track of time. Roman had told him what they planned on focusing first was something called pain training.

Pain training 101 according to Roman Torchwick; stand still while he hits you repeatedly with his cane.

Wash, rinse, repeat for a couple hours every week and apparently it helped…

…

 _What does this help with?_ Jaune thought to himself.

"No, seriously Roman, what does thi-ACK!" He was stopped when Roman slammed his cane into his stomach like a mace, sending him flying again.

Roman just snorted as his body rag-dolled across the floor.

"You really don't have the reflexes to dodge every shot that comes at you kid," He started walking towards the human wreckage, "and getting reflexes like those takes time and effort." Roman said, rolling his eyes as he explained his unique 'training'. "You flinch on every strike kid, regardless of whether or not it hurts. You need to learn how to take a hit and keep going forwards regardless."

"Ow..." Air. He could barely breathe after Roman had forced the air out of his lungs with that blow. His lungs screamed for oxygen.

"You're so focused on learning how to be some fancy pants fighter but the truth is, you're not gonna be one for a long time." He hooked Jaune's armor to the handle end of his cane and hoisted him up. "You're afraid of pain and that absolutely will get you killed someday."

"Ugh...So this is the only option?" Roman paused and put a finger to his chin, exaggerating his vocal ruminations.

"Yeah, pretty much. Nothing except pain itself will help you get over your fear of it." He let him go, only to watch him collapse to the floor, legs too tired to hold him up. "Why do you think your stance keeps shifting when you fight?"

"What?" Jaune exclaimed as his blue eyes looked up in surprise.

"You keep flinching and shying away from blows, messing up your stance. That's because you're afraid of taking a hit." Sure, Jaune could just train until it became natural habit, but learning not to fear pain would help that process along immensely Roman mused to himself. "Take up your stance again."

"Al-alright." His feet spread slightly and his shield came up to defend him.

 ***POW***

His feet skidded across the floor but his body stayed upright this time.

"See that kid. Not even a flinch." Roman chuckled again as Jaune looked down at his legs, marveled that he had stood up to his attack. It was kind of sad really, watching someone be so amazed at not getting their ass completely handed to them in one blow. "Don't get excited though kid, you're not finished until you can take a blow without flinching while at full strength."

Jaune sighed at the thought but decided that it was for the best. Roman hadn't been wrong when he said that Jaune was afraid of pain. It was a pretty accurate summation of how he felt every time he or Pyrrha actually connected a blow, whether it actually hurt or not.

"So then," Jaune pointed his finger towards the multicolored girl watching them, "what's she doing here again?"

"She'll be helping you 'hone' your instincts to their fullest effect."

The grin on his face seriously didn't sit well with him.

Also, the maniacal laughter didn't help.

"What does that mean exactly?"

"You'll see next week when she starts. Remember we switch who you work with every week kid." Roman reached into his pocket and brought out what looked to be a slightly larger than average thumbtack. "By the way kid, I'm calling in my favor."

"Wh-what?" Jaune was taken aback at the statement. He hadn't thought Roman would have called in his favors so early, it worried him. "Already?"

"Yes, now stop panicking, it's not dangerous, for you anyway." He whispered the last part out and grimaced a bit before setting a grin on his face. "Just take this with you back to Beacon, find a network port on the wall somewhere, unscrew the plate covering it, and then stab this thing into one of the cords."

"What?" Jaune replied lamely.

"Don't worry," he was handed a set of instructions by Roman, it had stick men drawings with blonde hair getting electrocuted, "I've got the instructions written down for you."

"Oh, what if I still don't understand?"

"Do some basic research then. It's really not that hard kid."

"Ah, right," He pocketed the paper carefully, taking care that so he wouldn't lose it by accident, "so are we done for the day?" He really hoped so as he was pretty sure that his legs were going to give out on him soon.

"Yeah pretty much. Neo!" Jaune fell back onto his rear when the girl shattered into existence before him. "Take him away."

Neo huffed and crossed her arms.

"Oh cmon, you got an entertaining show out of it." She rolled her eyes and pointed at his pocket. Roman blanched at the action. "Are you serious? It hasn't even been a week since you bought the last batch!"

She shook her head and jabbed a finger towards Jaune, who was just now getting up while soothing his abused body.

"You want a rewards for taking him home? You have got to be kidding me." She nodded her head and turned away, hand outstretched and waiting. Roman sighed and reached into his pocket, muttering about addictions and money.

"This enough?" She flipped through the bills, counting the total, and nodded to herself more than anyone. She put one dainty hand on Jaune's shoulder and waved goodbye to her boss.

"Make sure no one sees you guys arriving!"

"Wait, whats going on?" Jaune gave the diminutive girl a curious stare as she held steadfastly onto his shoulder.

"Just try not to puke!"

"Wait wh-URK!"

Roman merely kept smirking as air turned to glass, shattered, and took the image of the duo away.

* * *

"Oof!" Jaune landed on his rear once again as they materialized...somewhere? He wasn't too sure, it was kind of dark and there weren't any signs indicating anything.

He dusted himself off while standing up and found an umbrella poking his chest.

"Oh...um...hi?" She blinked once, eyes switched and trailed his form up and down. Her lips twisted into a grimace as his sweaty odor hit her nose. She pushed him away lightly.

"So where are we right now?" He was going to ask how, but he was certain she wasn't going to tell him anything about that anytime soon. She just sighed and pointed at his pocket.

"…I can't really pay you like Roman did..."

His confusion only grew as she shook her head and began talking into her hand like it...was a…

"Oh! My scroll!" He pulled it out of its pouch, impressive enough, it was still in working order. He held it in front of him and looked back at the girl. She let out a silent groan.

It was like working with a caveman, all brawn-not that he had much of that either-and no brain. She leaned over, working through the musk and tapped on his scroll a few times, eventually opening up the TRPS app, or the Tower Relative Positioning System, a system where one would be able to check the total distance from either one of the major Cross Continental Transmit System towers or an offshoot station.

Luckily, Beacon was located right above Vale's CCTS tower so students had no trouble finding their way back if they got too lost.

"So only a couple miles away huh? Guess I'm in for a walk. Thanks for...bringing me back I guess, mostly." He nodded to her as she leaned away, onto her umbrella. She raised an eyebrow and lifted up a single finger.

"What?" He looked up, expecting, well, he didn't know what he was expecting but he expected something, however, nothing came. Instead she shook her head and pointed at him, back at herself, and kept her single finger up.

"You...want something?" His heart began to sank as her grin grew wider.

Oh no…

There was no way she expected a…

"Favor?" He hesitantly asked her. She smiled brightly and nodded vigorously before throwing him a thumbs up. "Wait, didn't Roman already pay you?"

She nodded but strutted towards him anyways and poked him again in the chest.

He had never been so scared of someone so small.

"But I owe you as well?" She nodded a flicked her arm upwards, her finger brushed his nose.

"So," he sighed in resignation, more criminals to be beholden to, awesome. "What do you want?"

She rubbed her chin for a moment then shrugged her shoulders. She merely turned away, looked over her shoulder and waved him goodbye.

"Yeah...have a good day." He waved back miserably and sighed as she broke away. At least Roman had used a favor, though what he asked…

He pulled the device out of his pockets. So unassuming but he knew better than to think anything given to him by Roman was 'safe' in any way.

"Well, at least he didn't ask me to kill anyone…yet."

* * *

"Ah! Neo, you're back! So how was your trip?" Roman greeted the girl as she stepped back into existence. He tugged on the edges of his sleeve uncharacteristically. It was foreign to him, to be so nervous about just starting a plan.

Neo just gave him a worried look. Her lips thinned in displeasure as she cocked her head to the side.

"What? Don't tell me you're worried about me now." He laughed, pulled out a cigar, and stuck it between his teeth. He closed his eyes and brought his lighter up but Neo snatched it out of his hands. He looked down to see her disapproving expression and groaned. "Now, now Neo, stealing is my job."

She nearly stumbled over her feet when Roman's hand shot out like lightning, his fingers nimbly rolling the lighter out of her hand. He flicked it open and lit the flame in one deft movement.

"Don't give me that look." Roman said when Neo pouted and slapped her umbrella into the floor. "What's the big deal? You're usually not this snippy."

Her hands waved in the air, pantomiming strikes and pummels, leaving a hapless Roman to interpret.

"You're worried about Jaune?" He questioned. Seemed he had hit the nail on the head with Neo nodding furiously. Her expression grim and nervous. She looked around them exaggeratedly, looking for prying eyes and ears.

 _Only one thing ever makes Neo that cautious_ ,Roman thought to himself.

"Cinder as well?" She nodded and clapped her hands together. Roman laughed at her, even as her expression grew petulant and pouty. "Look, just trust me okay. I've got plans to get us out of this shit situation alright. Jaune is just a necessity for now, an unknown factor that Cinder doesn't know about."

Neo wasn't pleased with the answer however, turning her head to the side and humphing. Ever since Cinder entered into their lives everything had become complicated and far more dangerous. She knew Roman was strong in his own right but Cinder was a beast of a whole different variety. She would kill them without a second thought if she thought they were plotting against her.

And now Roman was putting a new scheme into action that involved some kid! She was completely right to worry about their safety!

"Stop." Roman said as she moved her eyes up to look at him as he placed his hand on her head. Usually she would hit him for making fun of her height, but she had never seen him with such a tired expression. Roman continued. "I know that it seems ridiculous-and it is for the most part-" he quickly amended as she shot him glare, "but she has everything in the palm of her hand right now. Every resource I've ever built up she's taken for herself. We need something new, something she won't have any ties to."

Jaune was that resource for him. A seemingly worthless and average students at Beacon Academy. Roman wasn't a fool, he knew Jaune was weak for the most part, but strength wasn't what he needed right now.

He needed information. Information that only Beacon Academy held.

"So just trust me Neo, I promise, we're gonna be fine." He finished, squeezing her lightly on the shoulder. She took a deep breath and gave him a hesitant thumbs up before disappearing to God knows where.

Roman felt the seed of worry that had been planted in his heart grow wickedly, it's roots taking deep hold.

* * *

Ren flipped through his notebook on grimm history and theory. His notes were written in tiny, neat handwriting, every word written with purpose and every inch used efficiently.

"-but he never picked up and I know he told us that he would be in the city today but he shouldn't be so late, I mean it's already nine in the afternoon and he's still not back and-"

"Pyrrha," Ren waited as she took a deep breath and looked at him, prompting him to continue, "I'm sure he's fine and he'll be back soon enough." Nora was uncharacteristically silent, watching the exchange, but Ren knew better than that, seeing her grinning expression.

"But what if-"

"He's fine."

"He could ha-"

"I'm sure he's fine."

"But you don't kn-"

"Yes I do."

"What if someo-" Pyrrha halted at his response. "Wait...How do you know so confidently?"

Nora slapped her hand into her bed as she stifled her laughter. This was amazing to watch, better than watching Harry the Hunter on Vale TV.

"Well, just call it a hunch..." Ren snorted a bit and hid his face into his notebook.

"What?" She didn't understand how they were so nonchalant about this. Their leader was missing and he had been missing for a while now. It was slightly frustrating and while she was happy that they weren't sycophants, she wished they cared more about her partner.

She sighed and ran her fingers through her red mane. Taking a seat, she thank Jaune quietly as he patted her shoulder.

…

…

"JAUNE?" She sprung out of the chair faster than Ruby that one time she saw cookies being handed out for free in the Beacon main plaza. "Where have you been?" She hugged him tightly, noting the smell of sweat clinging to him. Had he been training? He was supposed to be resting!

"I'm fine Pyrrha!" Jaune squeaked out as the girl clung to him, not that he wasn't enjoying the attention. "I just got side tracked in the city."

"What were you doing?" She asked worriedly.

"Just um...doing, you know, stuff." Jaune cringed as the jumbled lie left his lips.

"Stuff…?"

"Yeah, I was looking for some help with-" _oh God,_ _brain, come up with something good_ , Jaune thought to himself, "-um...you know...help with...aura?" Okay, not the worst start, sounded a bit unsure of himself but it was something to work with.

"So you were training your aura?" Pyrrha broke away and put a hand on her hip while she continued interrogating him. "With who?"

 _Okay brain, you did fine with the last one, don't fail now._ Jaune's brain worked the cogs of his mind, grinding for an answer. Some unlucky engineer was working overtime up there and was probably waiting to go back to his family. Mad as hell at the boss for keeping him for so long.

"With myself." _Brain...the fuck?_ That was his answer? God dammit…

"Jaune, I'm happy to see your dedication but I can help you with that too. You don't need to do things on your own." Pyrrha chided him as her expression softened. He was trying so hard to catch up to everyone. It was nice to see such dedication but he could injure himself if he wasn't careful. She grabbed his hands. "I'm here for you Jaune."

"O-oh." He stuttered out as he felt her warm skin make contact with his. It was night out and fall made the weather a bit chillier, but Pyrrha's hands were always so warm and inviting. She was trying so hard to help him. "I know that, but I need to try things on my own as well. I...I want to try advancing on my own as well."

She sighed.

He wasn't wrong to want that and coddling him like some child would only hurt him. As much as it worried her she needed to let him experiment his strengths on his own.

But that didn't mean she couldn't express her worry.

"Alright then, just promise to be careful Jaune." Jaune felt her arms wrap around him firmly, he returned the action.

"I promise." What a blatant lie. "Alright then, I'm gonna go take a shower now, goodnight Pyrrha." He let go of the hug and walked to the bathroom.

God, it was only going to get harder from here, wasn't it…

* * *

Tukson crawled through the shadows of the city. His eyes clung to the forms of three men walking down the street, nailing posters to walls and lampposts. Faunus may have had excellent night vision but they weren't any smarter than other humans, so avoiding their notice wasn't too bad.

"Can you believe this, we're over here on fucking advertisement duty." One man grumbled out as he put up another poster. He was rotund and walked with a slower gait than the other two.

"I know right? Adam says we're going to be 'making the difference' but what the hell is this supposed to do?" A female this time, he noted. She was thin and her tail swung lazily in the air.

"I think it's 'cause-"

"What you think doesn't matter, Adam says this helps so it must." Third guy was big, but not fat big, no. He was a muscle bound freak of nature. Tukson could see the prehensile tail curled around his waist, probably an ape or something else similar. "He's taken the White Fang further than anyone else has before him, trust him."

The other two shut up at his words. Probably their overseer. He remembered his days as a recruiter, his overseer was an asshole.

Though he was a bit sarcastic back then.

"Alrighty then, you're the boss." The two nodded and continued working in silence, posters lined the street they went down.

As their forms melded into the black night and disappeared, Tukson stood up and walked to one of the posters.

Faunus of Vale, do not be deceived by the words of your so called council.

You have no more 'rights' in their eyes as the average lab rat.

You will see the truth soon, I promise.

-Adam Taurus

 _Was this guy always so dramatic?_ He tore the paper off the wall and let his eyes wander over it. So it wasn't direct recruitment just yet. Adam was still in the propaganda phase of his plan where he would sow seeds of doubt amongst the local faunus.

"See the truth huh...What bullshit." He crumpled the poster up and threw it into a garbage bin before leaving the area.

He never noticed the pair of eyes following him from afar.

* * *

 **A/N: So there you go. What? Did you expect more? Cmon guys, I'm not some kind of writing savant, cut me a break would you? All joking aside, yes I know I'm not that funny either, how did you guys feel about this chapter? Specifically my view on Tukson.**

 **I felt like changing his character a bit since he doesn't get any love from the community. He's the kind of guy I think I could rely on. He sees that his organization is getting a bit crazy and he does what most people wouldn't have the bravery to do, leave. It takes a good man to own up and admit that he joined the wrong side of a war and actually back away from the crazy, knowing that they'll try their best to kill him off.**

 **It's a very common and well documented feature of the crazier organizations in the world. Look at any dictatorship or religious extremist group. You leave you die is a very common tenant. Even here in America, members of the Mormon sect are very viciously attacked by existing members if they choose to leave; they call it apostasy and it's looked down upon very heavily.**

 **Any guesses as to who was watching Tukson 'from afar'? If you get it right I'll make sure to put your name into the chapter he's revealed. Shitty prize I know but it's the best I got so far.**

 **...**

 **...**

 **You know what, fuck it, if you pm me an email or something I'll send you a shitty email of a picture of a thumbs up I drew when I was like 7 years old.**

 **Next Chapter: April 15th (Or earlier possibly if life permits it)**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Finally finished and published! I am overall pretty happy with how this chapter turned out. It had some lulling moments that I had to kill off and re-write but nothing too bad. I'm actually going to be picking up some books to continue my learning experience as a fiction writer so wish me luck! Also just to reply to some reviews.**

 **Dracohalo117: Thank you for the continued encouragement man!**

 **Soulfulbard: Yeah, Tukson wasn't really an important character in the actual show so I thought I would give him a spotlight to shine in. I feel like he could have a great story for himself.**

 **Pedrorocamora102: Ah ha ha, I'll keep updating until this story is finished! Thank you!**

 **Karlos1234ify: Exactly what I mean. Volume 3 happened just exacerbating the way I feel!**

 **Dark RAYQUAZA X: Did he really say that? That's nice to hear so I'm excited for the future!**

 **Clockwork Giant: Yeah, it's still holding to the rails for now but will be changing in subtle ways starting now.  
**

 **DinoGuy2000: Thanks! Poor Jaune is right. He's gonna be having a real tough time in this story.**

 **Patleon909: Glad to hear someone enjoyed my attempt at humor! I'm not very good when it comes to humor so it's something that I need to practice more often. In real life I tend to have a very dry and sarcastic sense of humor.**

 **Guest(s): I have no clue who you people are but thank you so much for leaving a review!**

* * *

Fine Findings

* * *

Fumbling fingers pried a panel off the wall, exposing the wiring behind. A young man sighed and pulled out an unassuming, tiny, black thumbtack. He stabbed the device into the network cable, causing it to light up and whirl to life. It opened up like a flower, displaying an intricate internal system filled with more tiny lights and buttons.

Quickly the panel was placed back to its original position, leaving the tack to do its work, whatever the hell that was.

Jaune dusted his hands off, shot one last look of worry back behind him, and left the library.

He had a class to get to.

* * *

Far from Jaune and his musings, Roman sat as his desk typing away on his computer when it let out a small blip. He perked up, a smirk forming on his lips as he opened up a terminal flashing with information.

Thousands of lines of rambling letters, numbers, and symbols scrolled freely across the terminal screen. Roman just kept smirking as he cracked his fingers.

Encrypted, was it now? _How cute_ , he thought to himself. It would take some time but cracking through the encryption would be a breeze.

He rolled his shoulders and took another sip of coffee before returning his fingers to the keyboard.

 _Now let's look for a pattern here…_

* * *

"He's a fucking degenerate is what he is."

"I assure you Adam," Cinder sipped her glass of wine as she spoke, "Roman is just a current necessity. Nothing more than a pawn."

"He's not some pawn." Adam barked out as his face twisted into a snarl. "He'll betray you eventually. Pawns are obedient and docile, that man-" he spat the word out like it was poison to his tongue, "-is nothing like a pawn."

Cinder sighed and closed her eyes. Ever since they had approached Torchwick and _appropriated_ his organization, Adam had become a non-stop engine of frustration and hatred, more so than he usually was. And while she valued Adam as far more useful than Roman in the long run, there was no denying that Roman was absolutely integral to their plans so his constant badgering for his death was getting-

"You would do well to end him before he got any... _ideas._ "

-…frustrating.

"I assure you Adam," she put the wine glass down and leveled him with a desolating gaze, turning the temperature up a few degrees for added effect, "when he gets any ideas, and let me be clear, I know he eventually will, so when he does, I'll have him put down," seconds ticked by, sweat trickled down Adam's forehead as Cinder brought the wine glass back up to her ruby colored lips and took another sip, "like you would any uncontrolled animal." She let the thinly veiled threat hang in the air.

She smiled to herself as the veins on Adam's neck tensed and pulsed with anger. While she didn't want her relationship with Adam to be any more strained than it needed to be, it would do him well to remember just who was in charge.

"I see." He strained to get the words out, his teeth clenched hard and tongue pressed against the top of his mouth.

"But Megan, don't you think that securing jobs for Vale is more important than helping a foreign country? We've had our biggest corporations move factories from Vale into Atlas, dubiously quoting lower costs of production and 'higher' quality." The TV next to them buzzed mindlessly with the news. Adam and Cinder payed it no mind as they sat in awkward silence. Well, awkward for one party that is, the other simply sat their enjoying her Atlesian Iron Grape Wine.

"Is he truly the only option we have however?" Adam asked hesitantly. While he deplored having to put himself under the rule of another human, Cinder was far too strong to resist and, as begrudging as he was to admit it, she got results whereas they struggled.

"I know how much you hate working with him Adam." She smiled at him softly, it was time to extend another carrot then, wasn't it. "But, his network is undeniably the largest and most prolific. When **we** ," she stressed the pronoun heavily, "are through with him, I promise that you can be the one to finish him off if you so desire."

Adam sighed and leaned back into his chair, slightly readjusting the mask on his face in annoyance. "And when will he have outlived his usefulness?"

"All in good time Adam, I promise."

"-I'm sorry to interrupt you Megan but we're getting breaking news from the Vale Docking Stations. Here's Melissa with more about that." Cinder smirked as the Vale News Network transitioned to a blond haired reporter. Her eyes flashed with glee for a fraction of a second as they panned a camera around the area, showing the completely barren port.

"Thanks Glenn, we're here at the Docking Station number four where an entire Schnee Dust Shipment was declared 'lost'." She made air quotes with her fingers, paused, and motioned for the camera to follow her as she walked towards a group of men loudly arguing near the pier. "Hello, do you men work with the Schnee Dust Company?"

They paused quickly, a man wearing a white suit stepped forwards. "Yes, we're just discussing wh-"

"I see and can you tell us more about what just happened here? It seems like an entire shipment was stolen."

"Saying it's been stolen is nothing but conjecture as of this moment. I assure you there's no criminal nor criminal organization that's capable of stealing from the Schnee Dust Company." Cinder felt her grin grow wider. So much pandering and lying to save face in front of their customers. She turned her eyes to Adam who held his scowl strong on his face, arms crossed tightly against his chest.

"I see, but recently Vale has been plagued with a string of robberies and thefts across the entire country," she paused and looked back at the camera, "all committed by the same group." Adam snorted and rolled his eyes derisively.

"This criminal group," the man spat the words out with pure contempt, "has never dared attack Schnee dust shipments and for good reason at that. Schnee Professional Security Division accompanies every shipment and ensures a prompt and risk-free delivery."

"And yet this shipment is not here, which begs the question, did the SPSD fail at their job or did the Schnee Dust Company want this shipment to go missing?"

"What!?" His eyes were wide open and his jaw hung low as he screeched his words out. "What the hell do you're implying!"

"There have been rumors that the company has been working with shadier people in the most recent-"

The channel cut off abruptly, switching back to the original two news anchors. One of them laughed nervously and tugged on his collar.

"Well I think we've heard enough to make our story about the missing shipment. Seems like the Schnee Dust Company and local law enforcement are on the case though so I'm sure that a resolution will present itself shortly won't it Megan?"

"Yes John, I'm-" The television shut off with a quiet click as Cinder pressed a button on a remote she fished out from somewhere. She sipped her wine calmly and danced her eyes towards Adam, who matched her gaze with a glare of his own. Laughter filled her internal monologue as she began speaking.

"See Adam, he's useful."

"One shipment means nothing." He huffed out as he drummed his fingers on the table.

"No Adam," she stood up abruptly and cradled his face in her hands, he froze, the air filling his nostrils turned hot and suffocating, she leaned in closely, "it means everything."

She let him go, his figure melting into the chair as she sashayed her way out of the tent. It wasn't about the dust Roman stole that was important, oh it was certainly important no doubt but the message it sent mattered so much more to her. The people of Vale had very little trust in Atlas, especially with the recent loss of jobs and finances to the industrious country, but with this new development…

She could already feel the embers of war lighting up again. There was no flame like the flames of war and fire that great had a tendency to stay hidden in the embers, smoldering and waiting for the right catalyst to flare up again.

Roman had done very well, she noted to herself, and for that he was due another visit.

A surprise visit.

* * *

"No." Click.

"No." Click.

"No." Click.

Roman clicked through file after file, his eyes skimming over useless financial information. Purchases for new textbooks, furniture, reinforced training bots, and strangely out of place grimm containment cages littered the quarterly fiscal reports written by Glynda Goodwitch. He sighed in exhaustion and leaned back in his chair.

 _God this is so droll, I forgot how mind numbingly boring doing this grunt labor could get._ Roman sighed to himself in his mind. Sure, once upon a time he had to do all of this work on his own but his organization had grown from that tiny little grassroots movement he started it as. Sadly he couldn't get someone else to sift through it since there was no one else he could trust to keep the information to themselves.

And if Cinder found out he had connections into Beacon of all places and hadn't told her…

He shook himself of those thoughts and returned to the files littered across his desktop. As he moved to the next one, his eyes trailing through the vacuous financial report, a single payment caught his eye.

 _ **Fiscal Breakdown by Organization/Corporation**_

…

…

 _ **Mistral Herbal Shoppes: $1,000,000**_

…

…

 _One million lien through an herbal shop?_ Roman felt a grin coming to his lips. It was hidden between literally hundreds of purchases to various other companies. In previous years Beacon had usually purchased supplies in bulk from a select group of committee approved suppliers but recently they had begun purchasing from hundreds of different suppliers at a time. Hell, every type of fruit they bought had come from a different brand/supplier this year.

One lien to an herbal shop could easily just be some sort of fluke but he knew Glynda Goodwitch had a reputation of being completely efficient, so he doubted these strange purchases had no purpose. Moreover, he was well versed in illegal distribution and financial obfuscation, this screamed of both.

"Now let's see what you're trying so desperately to hide that Cinder can't find." Roman whispered to himself as he began his search in earnest.

Keys clicked in the small office space. Roman narrowed his eyes as he read report after report.

Apparently this herbal store had opened up last year and was actually a subsidiary of an Atlesian company by the name of Greens and Leaves. That company was bought out recently by the multinational corporation Aspro Multi-Goods.

At this point he found himself at an slight impasse since the corporation was so large and multi-faceted. What the hell Beacon actually got from them he didn't have a clue but he was slowly putting it together one piece at a time.

"Aspro Multi-Goods huh…let's see what I can find out about you."

Neo entered the room silently, watching Roman type furiously into his keyboard, his mouse clicking away like a madman. She tapped him on the shoulder lightly, prompting him to glance back at her with questioning eyes.

"What?" She pointed to the computer screen filled with information regarding some big corporation that dealt with...everything it seemed. "You remember that kid from before?" She nodded and raised an eyebrow even as he let out a small chuckle. "Well he came through for us it seems." Her wide eyes spoke volumes of her thoughts. She didn't think he would actually pull through with their deal, especially since he was such a pansy.

"Yeah yeah, I know. I'm a bit surprised to. Told you it would work out."

She elbowed him slightly and rolled her eyes, poking fun at his ego. Neo sighed and motioned towards the computer again, a questioning look on her face.

"We need some leverage is all."

Leverage for what? She wanted to ask but it was often better to let Roman do his work way instead of getting in the way. So Neo took a seat in the open chair across from him, her legs crossed as she pulled her scroll out and flicked through some mundane apps.

Roman continued his search in earnest, paying the girl no mind.

He was certain that he would find something given enough time.

* * *

Jaune flew backwards, his legs barely holding him up as he came to a skidding stop.

"Give up Arc." A mace slammed into the ground, dust flying up into the air from the impact. Short breaths came out from Cardin Winchester's lips as he leaned over the metal melee weapon.

Across from him, Jaune breathed deeply. "I'll never give up!" Jaune charged straight forwards, his shield held firmly in front of him. He stood his ground as Cardin's mace exploded into his shield, sending him skidding back ferociously. His legs shook like glass in an earthquake but they held firm regardless. He peeked past his shield, chest heaving with every heavy breath, and noted Cardin's exhausted looking face.

"Th-That all you got?"

"No," Cardin smirked cruelly and exhaustedly pointed to his right, "but looks like you're all out Arc." Jaune mustered the strength and turned his neck to look at the status board, his aura was flashing bright red, Cardin's was deep into the yellow himself.

"Weapons down boys," Glynda lifted her riding crop into the air towards the burlier teen. "Winner, Cardin Winchester."

Jaune walked back to his team with his head hanging low. How could he be a leader if he couldn't even win a fight? Who would want to be associated with a leader who couldn't even defend himself? His mind swirled with self-doubt, exacerbated by Cardin walking up behind him and slapping the back of his head.

"Some leader you're turnin' out to be huh Arc!" Cardin laughed cruelly as Jaune glowered at him. "Not even gonna reply Arc?" He sneered at him and huffed loudly, walking past him briskly. He hated people like that, people too weak to defend themselves and relied on others. It was completely pathetic.

Jaune and Cardin went their separate ways, each leader meeting with their respective teams.

"Good work Jaune." Pyrrha said as she approached him and enveloped him in another hug. She was slightly worried though since he didn't seem quite so enthusiastic, though losing had a tendency to dampen moods so it wasn't exactly unexpected. "You did relatively well out there."

Jaune sighed but gave her a slight smile, trying to appreciate her encouragement. "Relative to a regular person maybe."

"Actually Jaune," Ren started, his arms at his side, "any regular person would have lost quite badly to Cardin. You managed to stay on your feet throughout the entire fight even though most other students struggle against that level of brute power."

Pyrrha felt her lips form a smile at Ren's words, while the other male of their team was by far the least talkative of their group he was quickly growing into a solid friend that they could rely on.

"Yeah! Besides, our team is like a million times better than their team anyways, so either way, you're winning!" Nora piped up, latching onto Ren's back once again, beckoning him to carry her. Pyrrha giggled at the scene, how the two of them ended up as best friends was completely lost to her but Nora made a positive contrast to Ren's usually serious and calm attitude.

Jaune laughed and rubbed the back of his head. Maybe they were right and he was just being a bit dramatic. After all he had literally just started training with Pyrrha and Roman so it wasn't like he was going to be beating every student that came his way.

* * *

"Thanks for the encouragement guys, so let's go study in the library after we get cleaned up?" After a round of affirmations filled the air, Jaune led his team back to the dorm.

 _Man I miss having more than one bathroom._ Jaune thought to himself as he waited patiently for Pyrrha to finish her shower. They drew straws for the showers, Ren was first- lucky for them since his showers were Spartan fast -Nora came second, Pyrrha third, and Jaune dead last.

"So, how has training with Pyrrha been?" Ren asked, breaking the silence.

"Oh, it's um...it's been good." Jaune replied as he sat on the floor next to him. Ren and Nora had figured out his lack of fighting skill pretty fast but neither seemed to care all that much. So luckily, they didn't ask too many questions about how he had gotten into the prestigious academy.

"You're quite dedicated, training every weekday."

"Thanks!" Jaune flashed him a grin. "It's been pretty tough but I'm slowly getting better, at least according to you guys." He laughed loudly, Ren merely smiled along and shook his head.

As the laughter died off, the silence returned, permeating every corner of the room. Jaune opened his mouth to say something but closed it quickly, his mind at a loss.

 _Man, I really don't talk to Ren that much do I?_ Jaune thought to himself. He peeked around him, looking for something to spark some inspiration. He eyed a textbook and an idea popped into his head.

"So...have you finished studying the faunus wars yet?" Jaune eventually asked, desperately attempting to create a break in the silence.

"Not yet, I'm still studying general Lagune and his failed attack on Fort Castle. He'll probably bring it up next class." Ren said, letting out a small yawn. He gave Jaune a raised eyebrow. "By the way, have you discovered your semblance yet?"

"Um..." Crap, he had no clue what the hell that even was. Jaune laughed and scratched the back of his head. "I...I um...you know. I'm still figuring it out and all."

"You should ask Pyrrha about it." Ren replied, nodding to himself. "A semblance is a massive advantage to any hunter and who knows how long it will take to activate it. It's better to get started sooner than later."

"I can imagine." Jaune said as he turned his thoughts to his teammates. What were their semblances like he wondered to himself? Probably something awesome like fireballs shooting out of their eye or laser beam hands. "What's your semblance Ren?"

An eyebrow went up as Ren chuckled lightly. "I try not to bring it up but mine is-"

He was interrupted by Pyrrha exiting the shower, her bright red hair still damp and clinging to her frame and her outfit fitting loosely over her. "Jaune, you can take your shower now." He turned his head to face her and froze.

His eyes trailed up her slender frame. His tracked a drop of water as it trailed down her cheek, onto her chin, then down her neck, and finally resting somewhere snugly between her breasts.

Jaune tore his eyes off of her frame and forced them to her face. "Ye-yeah...thanks!" He stammered out and rushed his way into the bathroom. His feet stumbling over each other as he clumsily stepped inside and shut the door behind him.

Inside of the bathroom, Jaune forced his himself to calm down. Pyrrha was certainly attractive, he wasn't blind, but she was also his teacher and partner. There was no way he would even consider ruining one of the only positive relationships he had just because of his libido.

Pyrrha stared at the closed bathroom door curiously. _Well that was...strange._ She thought to herself as she went to her bed. Nora shot her a thumbs up which she didn't really know how to take and Ren just rolled his eyes.

"So, will you be helping Jaune unlock his semblance soon?" Ren piped up at her, after letting her get settled in. He trusted Pyrrha to train Jaune well, with her being the regional champion and most likely best fighter in the entire student body, but it didn't hurt to ask questions.

"I've been focusing quite a bit on technical ability and general aura usage, also what do you mean by unlock?" Pyrrha cocked her head to the side in confusion. "I thought semblances came natural. It'll come to him eventually right?" Pyrrha replied, ending it with a quizzical expression.

"Me and Nora were taught how to unlock our semblances. Weren't you?" Ren said, nodding at Nora who nodded vigorously back.

"No, mine manifested quickly, maybe a couple minutes after unlocking my aura." Pyrrha finished simply, as though she were talking about a regular and simple occurrence.

Ren's dropped jaw and Nora's uncharacteristic silence said otherwise. They both stared openly at the champion in complete awe, their brains trying to catch up with her statement. Ren was the first to recover, he clamped his jaw back closed and coughed into his sleeve embarrassed.

"Ju-Just a couple of minutes?" He managed to sputter out. It had taken him weeks of training to just barely manifest his semblance in short spurts and he was considered one of the fastest learners, Nora hadn't been able to figure hers out for months. Aside from a select few hereditary semblances like the Schnee glyphs, most semblances took lengthy amounts of time to properly manifest and discover, so the idea of Pyrrha accessing hers literally minutes after getting her aura…

...No wonder she was the regional champion with no real contest for four years.

"Is that unnatural?" Pyrrha asked worriedly. "My teachers always told me that semblances manifested at different times for different people."

"That is...true...to a point, but you can certainly manifest it on your own with focus." Her teachers weren't wrong technically, but simply waiting for your semblance to manifest could take quite literally years if you didn't focus on it. "It comes more quickly if you actively focus on it which means you can work on it earlier."

Her face turned bright red in embarrassment, she had never even heard about manifesting your own semblance. To think she had such a massive hole in her knowledge.

"Is having your semblance manifest quickly rare? I was under the assumption most people got their semblance when they got their aura..." She trailed off. Another _special_ quality that set her apart...How great, she thought to herself sarcastically.

The sound of Jaune showering was the only sound in the room as Ren's searched for a way to word it without making her feel any more separated from them. Nora beat him to it though.

"Some guy we knew got his in like three days, so you beat the crap out of his record by like a thousand percent!" She happily exclaimed, flashing Pyrrha with two thumbs up and a bright grin. "Oh! So that also means you're like a thousand times cooler than him too!"

"You're quite talented so it makes sense Pyrrha, don't fret about something like this though." Ren added in after seeing her forlorn expression. It was no secret in their team now that Pyrrha avoided praise like it was a plague.

"Fret about what?" Jaune asked as he stepped out of the bathroom, wearing a plain black t-shirt and jeans.

"O-Oh! Nothing Jaune, don't worry about it." Pyrrha blurted out. It was kind of ridiculous- she realized that easily- but she didn't want Jaune to think or treat her differently. Having someone who just treated her like a normal girl was a refreshing change and she wanted it to stay that way for as long as possible.

"Alrighty then!" Jaune said cheerfully, accepting her answer at face value. Oh he knew that it was clearly something, but Pyrrha had been nothing but kind to him ever since they became partners. Letting her have her privacy from him was the least he could do. "So...time for the library then?"

After a chorus of confirmations hit his ears, Jaune led his team out the door and down the hallway.

To his least favorite place in the entire school…

* * *

"Jaune are you okay?" Pyrrha asked him, tilting her head to the side. He had been flicking his eyes back and forth constantly since they had entered the library.

"What!" Jaune's head rocketed back to face his crimson haired partner. Shoot. Had he seriously been that obvious? "Yeah! I'm just um...on edge you know."

"Why?" She probed curiously. But on the inside she knew the answer, it was that brute Cardin who kept trying to bully him. She hated people who liked to laud their status over others so easily like that and Cardin fit that description like it was a tailor made suit. "Is it about Cardin?"

 _Cardin? What does Cardin have to...oh whatever just run with it brain!_ Jaune thought to himself as he stuck with the alibi. "Yeah...he's just kind of a jerk, you know. Just don't feel like being bothered by him while I'm trying to study."

"Don't worry about him Jaune. I think you're a better guy than he'll ever be." Pyrrha said, her face matching her hair as she coughed into her hand.

"Yeah! We can break his legs if you need us to boss man!" Nora's encouragement got more than a few stares from the students around them. The circle of empty space around them grew once again.

"Jaune, I doubt we'd see him here." Ren chuckled quietly. "It's a library, no doubt his least favorite place in the entire school." Jaune and Pyrrha giggled quietly as Nora sat slack jawed at her longtime best friend.

"Ren! You made a joke!" Nora exclaimed, far too loudly apparently as several students shot her withering glares as they moved further away. "I'm so proud of you!" She hugged him tightly, holding him to her bosom tightly. "I always knew one day you would be able to do it! I mean I never doubted you in the first place but you're sense of humor was always kind of weak but now I'm seeing a new side of you and-"

"Mrmnphhhh!" Ren replied gracefully as his arms shook violently.

"Um...Nora?" Jaune started putting his hand up, trying to grab her attention.

It didn't work.

"I think he needs to breathe Nora." Pyrrha said, chuckling a bit nervously.

She just kept ranting.

"-never joked when we were kids and you were always so serious but now that we're here you're finally letting your hair down- well not literally since your hair is already down but you know what I mean -and-"

"Nora!" Ren shouted as her grip weakened for a moment, pushing himself off of her chest, gulping breath after breath. "Ah...ha…" He breathed deep breath after deep breath. Why God gave her such herculean strength, he would never know. "Thank you Nora." He eventually said.

"Oh no problem Renny!" She finished happily, placing him back into his seat and returning to her reading. What she was reading Jaune couldn't exactly tell since she had it covered but he doubted that it had anything to do with the faunus wars what with her considerable giggling. Unless she found humor in faunus dying for some inexplicable reason.

Which would be a problem in and of itself.

"But yeah Pyrrha..." Jaune began with, slowly taking his eyes off of his...energetic teammate. "I'll um...try not to worry too much." His lips stretched to a grin. She seemed to buy it well enough he noted.

"Good." She sighed out contently. Pyrrha didn't want his training to be marred by some thug but as long as he held his head up high, she was certain that it wouldn't be a major detriment to him. "So what have you learned about the faunus wars so far?"

"A lot!"

"Like?"

"...They were faunus?"

Pyrrha sighed and scooted her chair over towards him, pulling her notebook with her. It would probably help him if she actively studied with him since, no offense to her blond leader, he didn't seem like the intellectual type.

In his mind however, Jaune was still thinking about Roman and his next few meetings with the man. Apparently he would be meeting with that Neo girl next for training, what she would be showing him, he had no clue but hopefully it would help him improve.

Hell, as long as it didn't hurt as much as Sir Roman's Pain Training Extreme Exercise 1000 Series he would be happy.

Also what the hell was that thing he had implanted in the wiring? He had to do some research on it later when he had the chance. For now though...

"-however faunus are known to have excellent night vision-"

...he had some history to study with his partner.

* * *

The cold fall winds blew through the warehouse, howling down the hallways. Roman closed a safe he had hidden inside of a particularly large portrait he had bought of himself. He carefully placed the ornate image of himself back into position before heaving the gargantuan drawing back onto the wall.

He sat back in his chair, leaning back and looking at the painting long and hard.

In the end, he had found so little.

"Shit...these guys are getting better at hiding things." Roman mumbled to himself as he drew a cigar, placing it in his mouth slowly and lighting it up.

"Better at hiding what now Roman?" A voice said from behind him. The words traveled down the back of his neck, sweat glands popped to life and hairs stood on edge. He calmly spun in his chair to face…

 _Fuck my life…_

"Cinder…you're…here? Why?" Roman asked curiously, his face ever so normal and unwavering. He resisted the urge to lick his dry lips and instead fished a cigar from inside his cloak, not only to seem natural but also to give his hands some privacy to stop their nervous shaking.

 _Why the fuck are you here now?_ Roman thought to himself testily. Had she been just a couple of seconds earlier…

"I believe I asked you a question Roman." She replied smoothly, unwilling to let him avoid her inquiry. Her red lips formed a thin smile and her arms crossed beneath her ample bosom.

The heat began again.

"Schnee Dust shipments," he began smoothly, "seems like they don't want to take any chances with the next shipment." He lied quite easily. His heart calmed with the temperature. Cinder smiled warmly at him.

Never a good sign.

"I knew you could do it Roman." Her words dripped like honey as she stalked around him, draping her arms across his chest, her chin resting on his shoulders. The smoke in his lungs refused to leave. "How reliable of you." Her words slinked into his ear, drumming into his brain.

He never understood how people worried about those who sent cold shivers down the spine, the searing heat was so much worse in his personal experience.

"Thank you..." He replied as she extricated herself from him. The smoke left his lips with every words, spiraling into the ceiling before dying off, leaving nothing behind but the scent of burnt tobacco.

"Are you nervous Roman?" She asked innocently, her head tilting to the side as she took a seat directly across from him. "You shouldn't be, you did quite well. I'm here to congratulate you is all." She said as she leaned in over the table, resting her head in her hands. Her eyes locked with his, looking for a sign of weakness in them as they probed deeper and deeper.

Roman held his gaze steady, puffing out another cloud of smoke as though he were talking to any other coworker.

"I see…and you decided to make it a surprise visit, why?" He asked honestly. Cinder didn't exactly take pleasure in coming to see him and while she had never stated it overtly, he was fairly certain that she planned on killing him after she was done with him.

"Am I not allowed to come visit a subordinate at my own whim?" She spoke softly, her lips twisting into another grin. She knew exactly how much Roman resented losing control over his organization to her and it pleased her to watch him contain his anger. And while his face stayed neutral and his hands remained steady, she could see his cigar light up just a bit brighter as he took a sharper breath.

She loved it.

Roman remained silent. _God she's so difficult to deal with_ , he thought to himself. One hand came up to pluck the cigar from his lips, holding it steady as he turned his head to the side and blew a cloud of smoke out, obscuring his twitching eye from her view.

"Ah well I suppose you're right aren't you. How long do you intend to stay here?"

"Not for too long, but I do have something to tell you Roman." Cinder said as she pulled out a small usb. The smile receded from her lips as she handed it over to the criminal mastermind. Their plans were completely dependent on Roman being able to pull off this next part flawlessly, so she wanted to emphasize its _importance_.

"And this is?" He inquired, taking the usb into his hands.

"The next phase Roman. Everything you need to know is in that device, I promise." She replied curtly. The air began to heat up again quickly. Soon it was a sweltering temperature in the small office, the air around her shimmered and shook as though it wasn't strong enough to handle her mere presence. "And I expect this to go flawlessly Roman, completely flawless."

"Yeah," he sputtered out as he breathed the hot air, "I'll get right on that shit…" he lowered his voice to an inaudible whisper for the last word, bowing his head and coughing smoke into his lap.

"Hm…Well then, see to it that it gets done. Goodbye." She said while returning the temperature back to normal. As she left his office and disappeared down the hallway he let out a heavy sigh, killed his cigar, and tossed it into the ashtray beside him.

 _Well let's see what this next phase is all about…_

He hesitated, however, right before he stuck the usb into the computer. _What if it's bugged_ he worried silently. He knew better than to simply trust a piece of technology handed to him by the devious woman so he pulled out a small laptop from his drawer. A laptop with literally no network connection or important files. Its entire purpose was to scan media files and devices for malware.

He sighed when it came up positive for various Trojans and rootkits. There was no way he was going to stick this damn thing into his main computer now. Who knew what else could be hiding in this device! So he reached down and pulled out another laptop, a simple one just for this kind of occasion.

As he loaded up the files on the isolated laptop he turned his thoughts to the coming weekend, he would be meeting with Jaune once again though it would be Neo's turn to teach him. What she planned on teaching him he really had no clue but he trusted her…

…

 _Maybe I'll ask her first…_

The files finally loaded up, a plethora of schedules and resource requirements were all listed out thoroughly. This was bound to be _exciting_ he sarcastically told himself.

 _Though it is kind of strange_ , he thought to himself, _Cinder seriously expected me to fall for something as simple as a computer virus? How strange…_

* * *

 _Hours earlier_

"And how exactly does this 'Trojan' work?" Cinder asked the poor stuttering man as the fires licked across his desk.

"I-It just monitors th-their technology by infecting it a-and giving you remote access!" He squeaked out.

She frowned further and the flames rose alongside her eyebrow.

"You can see what he does on his computer." He said meekly.

"So with this I will be able to spy on Roman?" She asked simply.

"Who's Rom-" he was stopped when the fires rose up another few inches, "-Y-Yes, but only-"

"Perfect…" She purred to herself quite contently. The fires of frustration dying off with her words.

Cinder grabbed the usb off his desk and walked promptly out the door, fed up with having to talk with the stuttering wreck. What a sad little buffoon, couldn't even talk properly when asked simple questions.

* * *

… _Hm…She probably has something else in store for me..._ Roman thought to himself as he scrolled through the plan.

"Mountain Glenn huh…this is gonna be a pain in the ass I can already tell."

* * *

"I heard we're gonna be going on missions soon." Ruby said proudly to her team as they walked down the halls of their school. She had been spending the past few weeks creating combo attacks with her teams and she was fairly confident they could handle anything out in the wilds.

"Yeah, the mission board is supposed to open up in a few weeks from what I've heard." Yang added gleefully. Giddy to finally have a chance at her first taste of the true huntress experience.

"The Forever Falls trip is this week. Apparently we have to collect…tree sap?" Weiss added, reading the schedule for the week. "What does collecting tree sap have to do with being a huntress?" She asked. She had come to learn that the staff of Beacon weren't exactly the most focused individuals, aside from professor Goodwitch of course.

"Maybe we can weaponized it?" Ruby said hopefully.

"That sounds…unlikely Ruby."

"She could be right Weiss, maybe it lights on fire really easily!" Yang exclaimed excitedly. Her regular shotgun shells were starting to bore her a bit. Oh, she still loved them, but she wanted to add a little more bang to her buck so to speak.

"I'm pretty sure the sap is just eaten as regular food for most creatures." Blake replied, shutting down their…interesting theories. "Researchers have been taking closer looks at it though apparently."

"Do you know what for?"

"Not really." Blake admitted easily, shrugging her shoulders. "So have you guys thought about what mission you want to take when the mission board starts up?"

"One where we save people!"

"Let's find one where we fights lots of grimm!"

"I would prefer one where we actually hunt dangerous grimm, not just mindlessly fight them." Weiss said as she rolled her eyes at her teammates' ideas. Honestly, all they ever thought about was fighting. Yang snorted at her suggestion.

"Wow ice princess, thought you would want a cushy mission like investigating nearby clothing stores or discovering the hidden secret behind the soft mattresses at Mattress Firm."

"I'd rather get my career as a huntress started soon."

"Yeah, fighting lots of grimm is pretty much the job description so…"

"How mundane of you Yang, I thought you would aim bigger than that." Weiss sighed exaggeratedly, her hand cradling her face as she looked at her teammate with despondent eyes. "And Ruby, hunting dangerous and larger grimm is the best way to save people wouldn't you agree?"

"Um…I mean…" Ruby stalled as she thought it over. Weiss wasn't wrong and fighting big and dangerous grimm could be her shot into the hero's spotlight and big grimm were the most dangerous for normal people and if she took on down she would be well known and…and…It. Was. PERFECT! "Yeah! You're right!"

 _Wow she's simple…_ Both Weiss and Blake thought to themselves, sharing a humored look.

"Blake what about you? You have any kind of mission you wanna go on?" Said cat-faunus was shaken out of her thoughts at Yang's question. What kind of mission did she want to go on? It was pretty obvious what she wanted when she thought about it properly; she wanted to investigate White Fang activity in Vale.

"Nope, I'm down for anything." Blake said, putting her desires to the back burner. No one here except for headmaster Ozpin knew about her...special history and she had no desire to bring it up to her new teammates. Hell, they didn't even know she was a faunus yet, she had held off on revealing that secret ever since she got onto the same team as the Schnee.

"Nothing at all? Really? Lame Blake, lame~" Yang sang at her teammate teasingly.

"Hey look, it's Jaune and his team!" Ruby said, pointing towards the library. Jaune was paying apt attention to Pyrrha who sat close by, apparently tutoring him something from her notebook. Ren sat quietly, reading his textbook and Nora was…sleeping.

"Wow Rubes, always gotta keep an eye out for your crush huh." Yang playfully teased, ruffling her little sister's hair as they walked into the library.

"I don't have a crush on Jaune!" Ruby said as her hands made shushing motions. She looked worriedly at the other team leader, hoping he hadn't heard Yang's stupid and embarrassing voice. Yang laughed, even as the librarian shot her a sharp glare.

"Sure Rubes, sure."

"I don't!"

"Yang, leave your sister alone." Weiss interjected peacefully. She wrapped an arm around Ruby's shoulders as she smiled contently.

"Thanks Weiss."

"She's probably already frustrated that Pyrrha has a head start on him."

"Weiss!" Ruby shouted, drawing the attention of several students across the library who shot them glowering looks, telling them to keep it quiet.

Weiss backed off wisely, laughing lightly at her partner's poor plight.

"Hey guys!" Jaune said, having taken notice of them after their loud entrance. "Come sit with us, we're studying history."

Blake rolled her eyes as walked past her teammates, taking the other seat next to Jaune. "Pyrrha keeping you busy I see."

"Yeah," Jaune replied, laughter bubbling past his lips. His hand rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Apparently there's a test coming up soon and I needed to study for it, so Pyrrha decided to tutor me."

The red haired teammate coughed lightly, prompting Jaune to look back at her. She raised an eyebrow and poked her finger into her notebook, shooting him an expectant look.

"Ah…sorry Blake I gotta get back to studying." His voice came out a bit nervous. Pyrrha was a surprisingly strict teacher sometimes which slightly frightened him.

"Looks like pumpkin girl has you on a tight leash there Jauney boy." Yang said as she took the seat next to Pyrrha. She flashed the girl a grin. "You making sure he doesn't run off looking for another girl?"

Pyrrha sputtered, face turning red as a tomato. "Wh-what? No! I just want Jaune to do well in his classes! That's why I'm tutoring him!"

"Oh, and tutoring him means nearly sitting on his lap?" Blake interjected smoothly. Smiling as Pyrrha turned her embarrassed face towards her. Maybe Yang was onto something with this whole teasing thing…

"I'm not sitting on his lap!" She shouted back, quite indignant. Jaune was doing his best not to listen to the conversation but the reddening of his ears showed how well he was accomplishing that goal.

"She said nearly Pyrrha." Weiss replied. This was definitely more fun when she was teaser instead of the teased. "Besides, I think it has more to do with how you were grinding on him earlier." Yang wolf whistled at the pair and gave them a sultry wink.

"I was doing no such thing!" Pyrrha exclaimed. Her face twisting with indignity. She resisted scooting her chair a small ways away from Jaune. After all, they were wrong so she had reason to change her sitting position!

"Denial aint just a river in Egypt Pyrrha." Yang said in a sing-song voice.

"What's Egypt?" Nora asked Ren, having been woken up by all the noise.

"I think it's a place in some fiction story. The Nile river is a major river route into a larger sea where several different countries participated in trade and-" His voice was drowned out by their continued arguing.

"SHE'S NOT EVEN THAT CLOSE!" Ruby shouted, standing up, her fists clenched into tiny balls. Her eyes narrowed and her chest heaved before she realized how much of a scene she had inadvertently caused. Her face went radioactive red as she sat down quietly into her chair. "She's just tutoring him some stuff. Right Pyrrha?" She asked quietly, her silver eyes locked with Pyrrha's green.

"Exactly Ruby, thank you." Pyrrha said cautiously. The young leader could certainly get riled up when angry…

"Aw…" Yang said quietly. Her head tilted to the side as a smile formed on her lips. She ignored to foot lightly tapping against her shin in protest. She knew exactly what an older sister had to say in a situation like this. "Ruby's jealous~~!"

"YANG!" She exploded with rage, her hands reaching across the table to strangle her –now dead in her heart- sister. Luckily Blake and Weiss managed to hold her down long enough to calm down, even as Yang laughed boisterously.

After though everyone had calmed down, the table had grown to an awkward level of silence. Jaune, still red faced, continued to read Pyrrha's notes, asking her questions quietly along the way.

"So why were the faunus fighting in the first place?" He whispered. Pyrrha shrugged her shoulders and sighed heavily.

"To be honest Jaune, I don't know. I was never too much of a history buff. I knew about the fights, the tactics, and the winners, but the motives were always lost to me. Aside from the blatant discrimination, I can't tell you much more."

"Oh…so you don't know why they were discriminated against in the first place?"

"Probably their physical differences Jaune. Group think rules in every society, including our own. Who we perceive as our 'group' is all that changes."

"But I mean, what made back then so different from today? Why were they not part of the 'us' group?"

"The problem is that 'they' still aren't" Blake said bitterly, interrupting their conversation. All eyes were on her as she spoke. "The Faunus Rights Revolution ended Jaune but the discrimination never did, at least in some countries." Her eyes flicked over to Weiss who bit her lip and grimaced, knowing full well which country she spoke of.

"But there are plenty of faunus in Vale aren't there?" Jaune asked. The girl gave him a grim smile and laughed darkly.

"Oh yeah, tons Jaune, and let me ask you, how many Cardin's do you think there are." She asked him with a heavy frown on her face. Her lips twisted in disgust and her eyes narrowed as she turned her thoughts to the faunus hating boy.

Jaune opened his mouth to speak but no words came.

"Jaune, you're a nice guy, and I'm happy that you can look past physical differences but the fact is that most people can't." Blake replied to his silence quietly. She shot him a weak smile as she continued. "Faunus are still discriminated against to this day, that's why the White Fang came into power at all. There's a reason why they started in Atlas Jaune, look at their faunus rights laws. You'll find them…lacking."

"That terrorist-" Weiss spat the word out like it was poison to her lips, "-group only came into power because the Atlesian government was kind enough not to crush it out when first appeared!" Weiss hissed out, her nostrils flared at the implied insult Blake ran against her country. "Humans had no part in the creation of the White Fang terrorist organization Jaune, all that ever turns out to be is leftist propaganda."

"The White Fang, if you'll remember, started as a peace organization, promoting human and faunus cooperation. It only turned violent when the humans kept discriminating." Blake spat out at her teammate. "But sure Weiss, let's just call it leftist propaganda." She mocked, her hand pressed against her chest in false affront.

"Started as a peaceful organization huh? And what about the man who started it, Donahue Avis, being one of the torturers for the faunus during the revolution?" Weiss said smugly, her arms crossed against her chest in arrogance. "Donahue was a known human rights violator and you're telling me that he started this organization to be peaceful?" She glared at her teammate hard, her eyes boring holes through the girl.

Ruby made placating motions with her hands, trying her best to get her teammates to stop arguing. Yang tried interjecting with a joke but Blake spoke over it.

"You mean the allegations placed against him by an obviously biased council? Where was the physical evidence against him again? Oh yeah, it never existed. Only ever testimonies and stories by a SELECT few number of human prisoners." Blake countered swiftly, her voice slowly raising as her heart began to flare. How could Weiss seriously think like this? She knew from the start that the Schnee heiress would be difficult, but racist as well…

"Except we found the torture chambers used and we also found written records of Donahue visiting them regularly." Weiss continued spitting her words like venom. She couldn't understand why her teammate would dare defend monsters like the White Fang. They were murderers. Killers at heart that wanted nothing but the death of all humans. How could she defend them!?

"No, what was found were rooms used to house human captives. These charges of torture were NEVER verified!" Blake all but shouted, she stood up out of her chair roughly, her chest heaved with every breath. Tears threatened to leak out of the corners of her eyes.

Weiss coldly stared her down. She narrowed her eyes and spoke again.

"They found bodies eviscerated Blake. Skin flayed from bone. Limbs removed with deadly precision. And Donahue was in the midst of all of this and approved mindlessly. Makes him just as guilty in my eyes." Weiss took a deep breath and stood up herself. Ruby grabbed her shoulder, beckoning her to sit down, but she merely shook the hand off.

Weiss continued.

"Donahue was a violent man Blake."

"Shut up…" Blake said with her head hanging.

Weiss narrowed her eyes. How dare Blake defend the group who killed her family members!

"He was a monster Blake."

"Shut up." Blake said louder this time.

Blake shook with anger. How could Weiss support such blatant racism!?

"Everyone could see what the White Fang's violence Blake. It didn't surprise anyone."

"Shut up!" Blake now shouted. Tears streamed freely down her face.

Everyone was watching the meltdown now, their forms frozen in place.

"Because-"

"Shut up!"

"It's-"

"Shut Up!"

"In-"

"Shut UP!"

"Their-"

"SHUT UP!"

"Nature."

" **SHUT THE FUCK UP!"** Blake screamed, her hands slamming onto the table, notebooks and textbooks flew off. Her face had two rivers of anguish running down them. Her eyes were red rimmed but defiant nonetheless. They were filled with rage.

They were filled with rage as she breathed deep and heavy breaths.

They were filled with rage as she removed her hands from the table.

They were filled with rage as she turned around.

They were filled with rage as she left the library.

Silence reigned supreme. Ruby sat in her seat with wide eyes and a gaping mouth. Her sister had a tight frown as she stared Weiss down hard. Team JNPR could only glance at each other worriedly.

Jaune bit his lips. _This is my fault…_ he thought to himself solemnly. He shouldn't have brought up a topic like that at all. There was no need! It's not like it would have been on the test. God dammit…

He felt a warm hand wrap around his. He turned his head and saw Pyrrha staring at him with her worried eyes, she mouthed out a quick not-your-fault and gave his hand a tight squeeze.

His face stayed solemn as the rest of team RWBY silently got up out of their seats and left the scene.

* * *

 **A/N: Alright, something that I wasn't too big of a fan of was how small of an issue the White Fang thing was between Weiss and Blake. Radical values are not just 'given up' so easily in life and we get a glimpse of that with the way Blake defends the White Fang but their fight regarding it was literally one episode of conflict. There was no build up to it that I can really remember. Hell, Weiss being so anti-faunus didn't even click for me until it was stated outright in that one episode since there really weren't any racist undertones for her throughout the season. It just felt kind of rushed in to get it over with.**

 **Look at ISIS today. There's a reason why they haven't died off even though we keep killing their leaders. People like to think that radicalism only affects the unintelligent and stupid, like it's some simple illness that can just be cured with some medicine. We like to think simple education and knowledge will keep someone from being radical, but we see time and time again that it's not true. Look at this report by New York Times if you need proof [** **.** **]. Hell, read this report by the NBER if you want more proof [** **.** **]. These guys aren't some dumb, middle-eastern, sand castle building enthusiasts.**

 **So Blake being a part of the White Fang should be something that is a CONSTANT issue and problem, but not in the way the actual show is outlining. Blake seems to just fight the White Fang quite easily, questioning them one time –for five seconds- and then moving onto direct opposition. Blake should still have very real lingering desires to help and influence the group she was once a part of. Remember, she didn't leave because she stopped caring about Faunus rights, she left because she hated the violence...to a point.**

 **As for Roman's little tool, I don't think there is any real-world invention quite similar to it. I would have written it more realistic but I felt like sometimes having a bit of science fiction implausibility is reasonable when you're writing about a world filled with already futuristic tech.**

 **POLITICS OF REMNANT TALK:**

 **Another thing that I'm going to be delving deep into is the political structure of Remnant as a whole. So far only Vale and Atlas seem to have clear cut distinctions as to how their governments run. We know they have something called ruling councils but we don't know how they're voted into power. We know they have companies and organizations but we don't know how trade regulation words. We know the obvious but we lack the details. So I plan on building my own details based off of real world models.**

 **In a review leave which real world country each nation in Remnant will be based off of! If you get it right I'll give you a prize...or...something! I dunno!?**

 **Next Chapter: April 29** **th**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Well here is the chapter 7! Took me a while to write since I've been in quite a slump. Writers block and a lot of headaches for the past two weeks.**

 **Regardless though, I hope you enjoy my efforts!**

* * *

It's Not Fair

* * *

He looked around him warily, searching for the telltale signs of being followed.

It was only three in the afternoon so there were plenty of people around, meaning he had to be extra subtle. He made as few sudden and jerky movements possible as he pathed out large looping circles and confusing paths, hopefully losing anyone who could have been following him.

As he came to a large warehouse, he drew his hoodie upwards, doing his best to cover the remainder of his face.

A man in a black suit gave him a raised eyebrow as he opened the warehouse doors and lead the young man inside.

Jaune let out a small sigh of relief, letting his tight posture relax to its slouching form once again.

* * *

"Neo, did you see that? What was he doing out there?" Roman said, lips quirking slightly as he released a small puff of smoke. His security cameras had caught Jaune literally walking in circles with his head twitching left and right randomly.

What the hell? Was he trying to make people think he was disabled so they wouldn't bother him or something?

Neo's covered her mouth with a slender hand as she silently laughed. Teaching him was going to be a massive pain in the rear, she mused to herself.

"Alright, let's go get him before he makes a fool out of himself." Roman said. He paused for just a moment before sighing. "Well, more of a fool that is."

He walked out the office with Neo, grabbing his cane on the way and tossing his cigar into an ashtray. Jaune slowly entered his view now, standing awkwardly as his goons toiled tirelessly around him. The kid perked up at seeing him, one hand going up in a tentative greeting.

"Roman!"

"Jaune! Good to see you again kiddo, you have the payments from Emily?" Roman asked boisterously. He clapped one hand onto the blond boy's shoulder and shook him lightly, smiling all the while.

Jaune's face twisted in confusion. "Who is Em-Mmph!"

Jaune flailed as Roman smoothly smothered his mouth with a single hand while transitioning into a classic bro shoulder hug. An advanced technique he was certain, but not appreciated at all.

Roman held tight as he lead Jaune away from the warehouse main grounds and into their personal training room. He didn't need anyone else in the organization finding out that he was training Jaune and possibly leaking it to Cinder.

"Exactly kiddo, Neo's teaching you today alright, and let's make sure to keep this training a little secret between the three of us though. Okay?" He said, removing the hand as he closed the door behind him, sliding a massive metal beam into place across the door, sealing it shut.

Jaune gasped for breath and glared hard before speaking. "Yeah."

"Perfect!" Roman exclaimed, clapping his hands. Cinders little surprise visit had left him a bit rattled so he didn't want Jaune causing problems right now. "Neo, take it away and start your lesson." He snickered and pulled the small girl forwards. She frowned at Roman, her eyes narrowed and she huffed indignantly.

"You do have a lesson right?" Roman asked. She didn't plan on adlibbing this…right?

She yawned tiredly, rolling her eyes and stretching exaggeratedly. She turned on her heels to face the blond boy. She strutted up to him, standing on the tips of her toes, craning her neck to meet his gaze.

Jaune just swallowed nervously.

"U-um…so what are we-" She stopped his words by putting a finger to his lips, she smiled coyly and leaned in.

Jaune tensed as his mind went into overdrive at the sight of an attractive girl putting herself so close to him. It's like she wanted to…to…

"He-Hey-URK!" He doubled over as she drove her knee into his stomach, launching him backwards. He skidded a bit before coming to a rest. Neo happily trotted after him.

"Neo," Roman asked, stifling the laughter bubbling to his lips. She sent to kid flying like a soccer ball which was hilarious -no doubt- but it didn't seem all that important for him to learn. Pain training was HIS stress relie- lesson plan. Lesson plan. "What the hell was that?"

She flipped her hair over her shoulder, pulling out her umbrella and pointing it at Jaune, who slowly stood up.

"Do-Does that mean we're just doing pain training again?" He wheezed out. Great…what another wonderful lesson. He had been hoping for something a little less painful but apparently his new teacher was also a sadist like his last one.

Surprisingly, Neo shook her head and unfurled her umbrella obscuring her from Jaune's point of view.

Even Roman paused at the sight as the girl disappeared into thin air from his sight. She was always so difficult to read, what with her unpredictable semblance and mute mannerisms. She reappeared right in front of Jaune, rudely poking him in the face, prompting him to flail backwards.

She kneed him again.

Jaune groaned as he stood up, this time drawing his sword and shield, intent on defending himself from the viscous assault. "Alright then, so sparring then right?" He thought aloud. But Neo shook her head before rushing him again.

He raised his shield, intent on blocking the next knee but found himself toppling to the floor as Neo twisted around his guard, sweeping his feet while reaching something from inside her pocket.

 _Is that?_ Roman's musing were cut short when Jaune screamed loudly and fell to the floor, clutching his face in anguish. _Yup, that's Mistral Desert Pepper seasoning alright…_

"What the hell!?" Jaune screamed as he rubbed his eyes, only exacerbating the pain. What the hell was that supposed to be, she threw fucking pepper dust into his face! What the hell was that supposed to teach him!?

Neo just laughed silently as she threw him a water bottle to clean the spicy condiment off his face and out of his eyes.

"Here's a tip kiddo, how about fighting back for once instead staying on the defensive?" Roman added sarcastically, his hands reaching into his coat, fishing for another cigar. This was gonna be a great session.

He could feel it!

"Yeah, how about you tell me something I don't know already." Jaune mumbled quietly to himself as his eyes finally stopped watering. He squinted at the tiny girl ruefully. He drew himself to full size, brought his shield back in front of him, and charged at her, roaring with intent.

"HAHHH! Jaune screamed when Neo closed the distance herself and stepped on his foot making him trip. She rolled her eyes as he rolled over quickly and repositioned himself.

"Hey kid-" Roman started off, only to be cut off by Jaune's confident roaring again.

"HAHHH!" His body slammed into the floor again as Neo spat in his face and punched him in the kidney.

"Yeah…kid you might wanna try-" He was cut off again when Jaune slammed his hands into the floor and stood back up shakily. He rushed off again, roaring of course.

"HAHHH!" Roman watched lazily as Neo quite literally raked her slender fingers down his face, forcing him to back off. She then kneed him, as was custom.

"I really think you shoul-" Roman sighed as Jaune got up again, rushing the girl with all his might, sword raised high, shield completely abandoned. _Well at least he has spir-_

"eep…" Jaune squeaked out in a tinny voice. Roman's eyes widened in fear as he cringed in phantom pain. As Jaune slowly tipped over onto the floor, Roman opened his mouth to say something.

"Neo…di-did you just knee the kid in the crotch?" He asked hesitantly.

Neo nodded proudly and confidently, her face filling with pleasure as Jaune sunk into the floor. Unable to stand up for another charge.

"Oh God…Alrighty then…" Roman carefully picked his way around Neo, taking due diligence to stay the hell away from her knee. "You alright there kiddo?"

"eeeee…" Jaune merely let out a high pitched whine as he shakily looked up at the criminal. His face was twisted in pain but his eyes still spoke his words loud and true.

WHAT. THE. HELL?

"If you would have just listened to me first you would have figured it out you know." Roman chuckled quietly. "You fight really linearly you know that?" He paused to look at Jaune, making sure the kid was at least trying to pay attention. He wouldn't really blame him if he didn't thought… "You fight while constraining yourself to a lot of rules. Some written down, others I imagine you just picked up on from TV or something."

"wh-what?" Jaune finally managed to gasp out, his hands still gently nurturing his injured pride.

"You fight fair." Roman simply said. He sighed at Jaune's confused expression. The furrowed brow, the open mouth, he knew them too well. Kid was still innocent at heart.

Either that or he was still in pain from the crotch blaster he had just taken moments earlier. Really it came down to a coin toss.

"Out there kid," he waved an arm behind him, gesturing towards the door, "there are no rules. When you fight, you fight to win. And if you limit yourself to some preconceived notion of honor or something-" he paused to take a long drag from his cigar, smoke left his lips with every word following, "-You. Wont. Win."

"O-Oh…" Jaune quietly mumbled. What else could he say? Fighting…dirty? It was blatant cheating and hunters were supposed to be honorable and upright. There was no way he could ever utilize these kinds of techniques into his repertoire. Roman was insane if he thought that he would just…just…

…

Lose every single fight he ran into with someone slightly stronger than him? Be unable to keep up because of 'honor'? Not be able to protect someone because he would rather hold onto his own sense of pride?

"Alright then…" He groaned out, slowly standing up onto his shaky legs. This wasn't ideal –true- but he could understand it. "So how exactly, should I be 'fighting dirty'?"

Roman grinned and patted Jaune on the back, his cigar glowed bright in the dimly lit pseudo-training room.

"Well kid, Neo's gonna teach you that. So how bout you ask her."

Jaune looked over to see the girl lazily drawing shapes into the ground with the tip of her umbrella, a bemused expression appeared on her face as she took notice of Jaune's standing form. He forced his eyes to stay on her face as she sashayed her way towards him, her hips swaying with every step.

 _Eyes up! Eyes up! Eyes up! Eyes up! Brain! You remember what happened the last time you got distracted!_

 **Wap!**

His eyes didn't stay up.

"Ow…"

* * *

"So what did you learn?" Roman asked as he led Jaune down another dark hallway. He absentmindedly tapped his cane along the ground rhythmically, waiting for an answer. He didn't have to wait long.

"That you and your partner are massive sadistic pieces of-OW!" Jaune screeched as Neo shattered to life in front of him and kicked him harshly in the shin. He bounced on one foot, cradling the injured other half. "You see what I mean?"

Neo huffed and turned her nose up at the boy. Her arms folded across her chest as she walked stiffly away from them.

After she disappeared from his sight Jaune decided to speak again.

"Is she always like that?" Jaune whispered to Roman, lowering his foot back to the floor slowly.

Roman shrugged his shoulders.

"Great…" Well that was great. Not only did he have a criminal teacher, he also had one that was testy all the time. It was funny though, Neo was attractive enough but her temperament was…difficult to handle. He turned to Roman and lowered his voice to a whisper again. "You know, I thought I would be happy having a really pretty girl like that as my teacher."

Roman's eye widened as Jaune spoke, he waved one hand rapidly at the boy –he needed to stop this train of thought immediately- as subtly as he could.

"I always liked short girls growing up but-" Jaune paused as he noticed Roman's crazy hand motions. "Um…you alright there Roman?"

Said criminal stopped abruptly. Slowly his hand fell to his side, landing on the inside of his pocket. Oh boy…

"Roman?" Jaune hesitantly asked. He was acting…okay so he was always a bit strange –but this was definitely out of his ordinary behavior!

Roman coughed, a sad smile formed on his lips as he put a hand on Jaune's shoulder. His head shook slowly, as though he was trying to force the pity he was feeling through his arm and into Jaune.

"…" As the cogs of Jaune's mind turned slowly. Grinding away, the realization hit him.

"Is she behind me?"

"You write your will yet?"

"…Is that a-" Jaune was interrupted when he felt a slender hand grab the back of his shirt. "Wh-"

The air broke apart and took him away before he could finish.

Roman sighed, he plucked the cigar from his lips and threw it in a trashcan not too far from him. Hopefully Neo didn't do anything to drastic to him.

"Ah…speak of the devil, back so soon." He said when Neo appeared in front of him once again. "So where did you drop the kid off?"

Neo huffed silently, she strutted up to Roman and kicked him lightly in the shin in protest.

"What? We're in this together right?" He laughed and swung his cane in wide circles. "Don't tell me you wanna stop teaching him just cause he didn't one hundred percent appreciate your lesson?"

She shook her head fiercely, a small blush adorned her face as she rolled her eyes. Neo gave her boss one last withering glare before disappearing once again.

 _Guess she dislikes the kid a bit. What. A. Shame._ He thought to himself sarcastically. Though he did want to know where she had dropped him off.

After all, he still needed the boy alive for just a bit longer.

* * *

Jaune flailed as they came back into existence far away from the hideout.

 ***Splash!**

Neo dumped him into a small pond located in one of Beacon's ever so illustrious gardens. Jaune surfaced, spitting water from his lungs and shot a rueful glare at his teacher.

"Thanks…"

She blew him a raspberry…

 _How old is she?_ Jaune thought to himself as he dragged himself out from the water. She seemed pretty young but that was mainly due to her height.

Neo planted another foot into his face, knowing just by his expression he was thinking about how small she was.

"Gah!" Jaune stumbled back into the pond. "Damn it! Now I'm gonna be freezing when I get back to the dorm!"

* * *

Warm.

No, blistering was probably the better word. A gloved hand wiped another trailing bead of sweat away, only for another bead to replace it. It was impressive that this heat was all being produced by a single woman, the lonesome guard thought to himself as his eyes trailed up Cinder's exposed, soft, and milky white leg.

He was snapped out of his reverie when the beautiful goddess spoke.

"Wine." A simple command got him rushing towards the center of the heat storm. He picked the small glass from the table and walked away, his mind wholly focused on steadying his shaky legs.

"You know Adam," She smiled brightly, his pores popped to life, "you should be prouder of your soldiers." She gracefully accepted another glass from the poor -it seemed like some canine faunus type but she really didn't care- boy who struggled to reach her through the sweltering air.

It was cute really, he was trying so hard to impress her.

"They are-"

"I didn't ask for a _response_." She cut through his words like a swearing hot blade through flesh, smile still present on her face. When she had heard about Adam's refusal to commit to the next phase of the plan she felt an uncharacteristic emotion fill her heart.

Wrath.

Probably why his seat was slowly melting and he kept having to get a new one.

"I should have made this clearer, now that I look back at it." She began with a sigh. It was quite bothersome, that Adam somehow believed them to be of equal footing just because she had been so kind to him in the past couple of days. And to think, she once believed Adam would be different from Roman. "I am not _asking_ you work with Roman," she leaned over towards him, "I am _ordering_ you to."

She let the seconds tick by in silence as she sipped her alcohol. Adam's tense neck and furrowed brow were all she needed to see to know he was doing everything to reign in his defiant streak. Eventually she put her glass down and shut her eyes, sighing all the while.

"Clearly you've forgotten your place Adam." Her eyes flashed open, one side brimming bright with untold power as she shot upwards into the air. The table flipped over and sent Adam sprawling to the floor. He scooted back on his feet as the air whipped around them like a tornado. Cinder watched, unimpressed as he shakily got to his feet, eyes still brimming with disobedience.

How incorrigible.

With a wave of her arm she sent tendrils of fire after him, each one twisting like a serpent in the air, searching tirelessly for prey.

"I-I wasn't disobeying," Adam heaved the words out, his breathing tense and quick as the fiery snakes surrounded him, "I was going to send members immediately."

"Immediately? Now Adam," she lowered to the floor, flames split in half to give her a path, as though she were the apocalyptic version of Moses, "they were supposed to be there yesterday. Not next week, not tomorrow, and certainly NOT TODAY." She punctuated her words by lifting him off the floor, she forced a stream of hot air into his lungs, not doubt an uncomfortable experience judging by the wild shaking of his legs.

"Shinder-reash-ack" Adam choked on his words as the air refused to move.

The lone guard watched silently as his boss was completely manhandled by the beautiful avatar of fire.

"Now Adam, I'll make this as clear as possible -for your sake of course!" Cinder added calmly. She quelled the air and lowered him to the floor gently. She embraced him tightly, arms enveloped and gently caressed him. "If you ever –and I truly mean this next part- ever disobey me so blatantly again, I'll have you put down." She whispered into his ear, her gentle voice a stark contrast to her message.

"Ye-yes…" Adam mumbled quietly, frozen solid despite the _heated_ exchange he had just had.

"Good. So go send your men now. I'll forgive this infraction of yours Adam, I'm kind enough to understand your problems with Roman. But next time," her high heels clicked and her voice gently faded as she stepped out of the room, "obey first, voice questions never."

Adam breathed heavily, doing his best to fill his lungs back up with the now regular temperature air. He looked at the open door where the war maiden had left through, his mind filled with incredulous rage.

How dare a human order a proud faunus like him around! It was unbelievable, completely unthinkable. He would have to do more research into killing her soon. For now, however, he would –as much as he didn't want to- obey.

He was smart enough to know the chasm that separated their powers was wider than the Vacuan Valley of the Gods.

As Adam nursed his wounded pride, the lone guard stared in awe at the woman who had just walked out. It was as though God herself had decided to grace them with her presence. Adam always prattled on about the superiority of Faunus to humans and the fact that a goddess would choose their side had firmly cemented it into his mind.

How could the White Fang lose with such power on its side?

His eyes roved over to his defeated leader.

And who was Adam, to question God?

* * *

"Alright so let me get this straight," Roman rubbed his temples slowly, frustration building on his brow, "we need to steal a paladin."

"No Roman, we need to steal several paladins." Between Adam's sudden disobedience and Roman's well-rehearsed doubt, Cinder was beginning to think that she was losing her touch at ruling. Though violence didn't seem to work with Roman, it just made him even more bothersome. Sure, it got him to work for her in the first place but that's where the positives wore off.

Roman seemed to work best when he had the illusion of control.

"So you want me," he made sure to emphasize this next part for her sake, "to commit grand larceny of military property belonging to the Atlesian Government." Roman's hands clasped together and shook with every word. This wasn't like stealing dust –stealing dust could be a bit difficult sure, but they only had to deal with the SDC- this was stealing from the Atlas Armed Forces. Not only was it the largest military division in all of remnant, it was also the most secure.

And she wanted him to just stroll in and take what was essentially their biggest project to date…without arousing any suspicion.

Fucking amazing.

"I have contacts that will get you in Roman, don't worry-"

"No I have every reason to worry." He cut her off and the temperature went to unbearable almost instantly –fuck the consequences though, she needed to hear him out for this. "This isn't something they'll write off Cinder. This isn't something they'll keep quiet about. The moment Ironwood finds out –and he absolutely will, don't say he won't- he'll go straight on the attack. We're talking a total lockdown of every single military branch. He'll comb through every single person involved with a fine comb, and let me be clear here. HE. WILL. FIND. US."

"Roman," she grit her teeth as the words barely left her lips. How dare he! This wasn't just doubt, this was complete insubordination! Clearly she had been TOO kind with him in the recent days. It was time to nip this behavior before it had time to grow. "If you read the whole outline, I can assure-"

"I have the damn thing memorized Cinder, don't worry about that." He paused to take a breath, no matter how searing the air was getting he couldn't stop. "What you're not getting is this, we're not stealing the blueprints or just the core schematics –that'd be easy- you want to steal an entire fucking legion of already built paladins. How are they not going to notice this?"

"They will but by the time they do it'll be too-"

"What'll happen in reality is that they'll find out instantly when quite literally billions of lien worth of military equipment go missing over-fucking-night. Instantly Cinder, instantly." He resisted the urge to wipe the beads of sweat pouring down his face and instead opted to continue speaking –shouting really.

"And you can't transport something like this without leaving a trail. Dust can fit into neat little boxes that can be snuck everywhere, this is a multistory fighting robot armed with rocket launchers, machine guns, and the most advanced laser tracking system ever developed. " He noted Cinders violent expression and weighed the odds of him surviving this as pretty low. "They won't just have these things unguarded either, there will absolutely be multi-layered security surrounding each one. "

This was insane. Stealing from the SDC was bad enough but this was just unbelievable. Could they steal it? Absolutely. No question in his mind that he could get these things out of their factories with a little legwork and elbow grease, he was a genius after all. But he couldn't hide them, at least not long enough for her plans to take effect.

He finally wiped the sweat off his face with a handkerchief. He wasn't smoldering ash just yet so clearly his words got through to her on some level.

Either that or she was just ruminating on which method of death would cause the greatest amount of pain.

Seconds ticked by in silence, neither party budged, Cinder's expression stayed monstrous.

Seconds became minutes, each one trudging along longer than the last. Cinder's expression started to falter.

They reached a dozen minutes passing before Cinder finally spoke –with words instead of fire.

"So what would you recommend Roman?" She asked sarcastically. It hurt her pride so much to ask him but he made valid points. She was used to fighting for what she wanted, grabbing hold of fate with her own two hands and wringing its pathetic neck until it bended to her whim. But the Atlesian military wasn't something she could simply wring.

And it was true, when she came up with the plan she hadn't thought too deeply on how the Atlesian military would respond.

"We don't steal the paladins at all." He said quite curtly. Slowly but surely, the air began to turn back to normal.

"Unacceptable, we need them."

"Why? What purpose will they even serve?" Roman seriously wasn't seeing their benefits.

"As weapons."

"That's what they're built as Cinder. But nothing here explains why we'll need so many." He knew what dangerous waters he was treading into now.

"…" Cinder weighed her options carefully. She would never trust him with their full plan but…he was integral to their success. "I intend to hack them and override their autopilot features."

"Once again, why do we need so many? One would suffice –which by the way would still leave us with the same problem. Even one is one too many for Atlas to just misplace."

"Mountain Glenn will be filled with dangerous grimm, we'll need the firepower."

"The only thing a paladin does is increase the likely hood of an early tunnel collapse, completely derailing," somewhere in Beacon, a young blond girl sneezed, "that plan."

"It's a matter of power projection Roman."

"You alone have more than enough power projection." The closest thing to a compliment he had ever paid her.

"I…" Cinder wracked her brain for an answer. Why did she need these damn things? It's not like they were going to bring a massive army to their borders. The plan was to cause the collapse from within.

"You may be strong, but Ironwood and his army -who won't sit idly by as we do something this reckless by the way- have the man power to contest you. You dislike recklessness right? Why not go the simpler direction?" A hook.

"What 'simpler direction'?" Taken.

"In your plan you said that you have access to the factory the paladins are being built in. Whoever is there, tell them to grab you schematics of the core processor; how it works, what language its firmware is written in, and if they can somehow grab a copy of that firmware, you're golden." A line.

"And that will do what?" She was skeptical of course.

"It lets you do the hacking without having to steal a multi-ton fighting machine. As long as you have the brain of that bot, you can hack it and run as many simulations needed."

"Wouldn't that mean we need to steal a core processor?"

"No, we just need the schematics and the firmware. All easily copied without a trace."

"And what, pray tell, does that get us?"

"We can make our own core processor." It was Cinder's turn to laugh this time.

"You're just going to make an entire paladin from scratch?"

"We don't make the paladin Cinder, just the processor, the brain." God she could be frustrating sometimes.

"And this will let us hack other paladins?"

"Yes."

"I see…" Thrown.

She desperately wanted to refuse his idea, burn him alive, and throw him in a ditch…

But, as begrudging as she was to admit it, he was right.

"So how do you want to do this?" The sinker.

"Oh, so it's my choice now?" She asked derisively. "Last time I checked you were getting quite uppity with my decisions."

"I get uppity with everyone's decisions, mainly when it concerns my personal well-being." Selfish and self-absorbed; his two most well-known qualities, no reason to deviate now and cause suspicions.

"…You can make this work?"

"Absolutely."

"No mistakes."

"None at all."

"…" She wanted to so desperately wipe his smug grin off the face of Remnant right then and there.

Roman waited patiently, watching every movement of hers with rapt attention. This was his do or die moment -quite literally if you looked back just a few minutes ago.

Finally she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose in an uncharacteristic show of annoyance. Roman caused far too many headaches to count.

"…Fine." And with that Roman let out a relieved mental sigh.

"I'll get started on it right now."

"You do that Roman," she briskly turned around and walked out the door, but before she left fully, Cinder threw in one last comment, "and just for future reference."

"Wh-OW!" He jumped when a tendril of flame lit the edge of his coat on fire.

"Next time you act so insubordinate, I'll make sure to light the rest of you on fire."

He grumbled to himself as she walked out and shut the door.

 _What a massive b-_

* * *

"-itch."

"What was that vomit boy?" Yang raised a threatening fist at the blond leader. Jaune put his hands up in defense.

"I was just saying that the grass makes me itch!"

"Sure you were…" She cracked her knuckles and walked menacingly towards him.

Pyrrha sighed as Yang put her leader into a harsh headlock. They were supposed to be gathering tree sap and it was going…

"Nora stop eating the sap!" Ren shouted, stealing another jar away from the excitable girl.

…slowly. Team RWBY had boldly declared that they would be combining their woman power to create the ultimate tree sap gathering group. The helpful idea appealed to both teams.

"Ow! Don't pull my hair out! Ruby, help me!"

"I'll pull every luscious blond lock right out until you take your words back vomit boy!"

"Yang! Don't be so rough!"

Helpful being a…subjective term of course. Pyrrha looked at Blake then Weiss, both of whom looked back at her and shot her tired grins. Apparently Yang was always like this so they were already used to it.

Pyrrha took a deep breath of the fall air. The foliage of Forever Fall was dyed in the million shades of red, it suited her tastes quite well. It felt so crisp and natural and while the threat of grimm was still present out here, she still felt quite relaxed.

Which was why she having trouble understanding the awkward air around her right now.

On her left, Blake screwed another jar shut and planted it firmly in their assigned container, on her right, Weiss did the same, with slightly more vigor.

…

"So…how has team RWBY been?" Pyrrha asked innocently. A simple probing question with an obvious answer, but it wasn't the words they used to answer she cared for particularly, it was all about the tone.

"Good." They answered at the exact same time with the exact same neutral tone. _That doesn't bode well at all_ , Pyrrha mused to herself. They glanced at each other for a moment before looking away awkwardly again.

She looked to Ren for assistance but he was too busy trying to stop Nora from eating their batch of tree sap. Jaune was now stuck in a Boston Crab courtesy of Yang and Ruby was hitting her with tiny balled fists in a futile attempt to end his torment.

"Have you guys thought about what kind of mission you'll be looking to take?" Hopefully some small talk would help alleviate whatever stress they were feeling.

"No." Two monotone voices spoke in tandem.

"Oh…" Pyrrha coughed into her arm and decided to try another approach. "Our team is going to a village in the outskirts. Have either of you been that far out?"

"No." Weiss answered but Blake remained silent this time. She bit her lips and flicked her grim eyes at her white haired teammate. She chose her words carefully.

"I've…been out there a few times -just some camping adventures though!" She quickly amended when Weiss shot her a look and raised an eyebrow.

Pyrrha stopped from asking the question that naturally bubbled to her lips. Blake didn't seem quite keen on talking about her 'camping adventures' –as she put them- so she decided to simply drop it.

Weiss frowned.

Her mouth opened, ready to ask a question but closed again –as though she were unsure about the nature of asking itself. She slowly closed her lips and an inquisitive look befell her face. It still didn't make sense to her at all; for Blake to so staunchly defend the White Fang with ease as she had. It hurt her so much, that a supposed friend would be okay with a group that killed so many family members.

Finally she gathered her courage and began her line of questioning.

"What kind of 'camping adventures'?"

"Just regular camping."

"Where did you guys go?"

"The forest."

"What were you all doing?"

"Like I said before, camping."

"Who were you with?"

"Fa-" Blake choked on her words. She had almost said family for a moment before she had stopped herself. "Just some people I knew."

"Some people you knew…"

"Yes. Why? What does it matter now?"

That was a good question wasn't it, Weiss thought to herself. Why did it matter? It could easily just be some old friends that she felt sorely about. But…What if it wasn't? What if her suspicions were right?

…

What if Blake was…

She shook her head slightly, dispelling those thoughts. No matter how bad they had fought earlier she still considered Blake a friend. She was certain her assumption was wrong.

So she dropped her questioning.

"You're right. It doesn't."

Such a simple end, but Weiss felt neither satisfied nor happy with the answer. She felt a stirring inside of her that yearned for more information.

No…

It yearned for confirmation.

Pyrrha made as little noise as possible as the exchange happened, listening carefully as Blake gave her curt replies to every question. It was strange seeing them like this, she thought to herself slightly worried. While neither Blake nor Weiss were known to have excitable personalities like their other two members, they usually brought a life of their own to any situation.

"Hey," Yang appeared within their midst, now holding Jaune in another headlock as she dragged ruby by her cloak. "Watch out, asshole at our 12." Heads turned just in time to see Cardin Winchester and the rest of team CRDL swaggering their way towards them.

"Can't even handle your woman Arc?" The brawny leader spat out while derisive laughter. Jaune sighed and tapped Yang's arm, prompting the girl to let him out. "Have to ask permission from mommy for release?"

Jaune straightened up and leveled Cardin with a hard glare. "What do you want, Cardin?"

"I can't come here to talk to a friend?"

"The only friend you have is your right hand." Yang said rather loudly, prompting laughter from her teammates.

Inwardly Pyrrha felt some slight relief, seeing team RWBY unite together again -Blake and Weiss putting whatever small feud they had in lieu of focusing on Cardin.

"You looking to take its place blondie?" He leered at Yang and raised a suggestive eyebrow. To his disappointment, Yang didn't react disgusted or frustrated, she just rolled her eyes and scoffed.

"Didn't know you were gay Cardin. Must be great to be on an all-male team then though."

"What? I was asking you-"

"No." She stopped him immediately. "I'm sure you were referring to Jaune with that statement since even the most uneducated backwater hick would be able to tell I'm too far out of your league."

Snickers filled the small clearing as Cardin's face turned red.

"Cardin, how about you leave before you get into any more trouble." Jaune said as he stepped in.

"Oh, you trying to step in for your woman Arc?" Cardin was disappointed again though when Jaune's visage didn't change at all. Not even a blush.

"No, but I always wanted to be a Hero," Cardin looked confused at that statement but Jaune barreled on, "so I decided to start by saving you from the slaughter Yang's putting you through."

He bristled at the insult but shook it off quickly.

"Makes sense now that I think about it. After all if I'm not in her league then there's no chance for you."

Jaune got ready to speak up but Yang stepped in and put a finger on his lips. She smiled cruelly at Cardin.

"Guess you're as blind as you are dumb, since Jaune here beats you out the water."

"Oh really, and what's Jaune got that I don't?"

Yang swirled around and planted a firm kiss on her fellow blonde's lips. She quickly turned back around to see a pleasantly stunned Cardin.

"He's got more experience kissing girls than you, for one."

Cardin's mouth was left gaping.

"You leave that mouth open any longer I'm gonna assume you're asking for Jaune to give you some 'experience'." Yang smirked and folded her arms across her chest. "And we already know you're batting for the other team already anyways."

He snapped his mouth shut and grimaced. Cardin shook his head and flipped them the bird as he walked off, his team firmly in tow as they quietly followed their leader.

Yang felt pleased -she loved winning these small little spats that rose up with assholes. She turned around only to be met with several open mouths and –she laughed a bit to herself here- some slightly jealous stares.

Jaune was apparently still in some strange shell-shock mode since he hadn't moved after the small kiss. It was kind of sad and kind of cute at the same time –apparently he was that innocent.

"Don't think too much into it vomit boy." She said as she strutted past him, slapping him lightly on the chest. "I just wanted to one up Cardin."

"Yeah…" Jaune replied, coughing into his sleeve as his brain finally caught up to the situation.

Blushing –activated.

Heart rate –ludicrous speed.

Conscious thought –still loading.

Hiding her feelings underneath and easy smile, Pyrrha felt her heart twinge slightly at the scene. She couldn't place why exactly it made her uncomfortable but it certainly did. Moreover, she didn't know how to fix it –nothing she had learned had ever really prepared her to deal with a situation quite like this.

So she sat there, her smile slightly strained as she scooted just a bit closer to her leader.

"YANG!" Ruby wasn't quite as reserved though. She could place exactly what she was feeling but her young mind was still struggling to come to terms with the feeling. Jealousy was bad, her father and sister had taught her that much growing up, so this terrible feeling gnawing on her chest made her want to lash out so badly.

"Yes Rubes?" Yang asked, putting on her most innocent of expressions.

No one really bought it.

"You…You can't just…" The smaller girl struggled to put her thoughts into words. She knew what she wanted to say –no question about it- but she knew saying it would leave her vulnerable to her sister's eternal torment. "I mean-"

Yang stopped her by placing a placating hand on her head and rubbed. Quite dog-like but it suited her and her ever increasing desire to please the people around her. Ruby quieted down as she felt the comforting hand of her sister.

"Once again Rubes, it meant literally nothing, so just calm down and don't think too deep into it."

"Mmkay…" Ruby mumbled quietly. She sat back down -more embarrassed than anything at this point- and went back to filling jars with tree sap with the rest of their team.

For a small period of time, it was uncharacteristically quiet in the small clearing, the only sound being the clinking of jars.

Then Cardin came out of nowhere and threw a jar of tree sap at Jaune.

* * *

Roman's warehouse was a frenzy of activity, his goons running back and forth from place to place, huge crates of dust being moved into several freightliner trucks, and –most surprisingly- several White Fang members stood at attention as Roman addressed them.

"Alright then, who's in charge?" Roman asked the congregation of faunus.

"That would be me." A deep voice sounded from the crowd. Roman raised a single eyebrow. He sighed when a respectably large man swaggered up to him –and judging by the scowl and tight posture, he looked about as happy to work with Roman as Roman was to work with Cinder.

Perfect.

 _Does he have a saw on his back?_ Roman thought to himself with slight incredulity. What the hell was that supposed to be? A weapon?

"Oh, and who exactly are you supposed to be?" Roman asked lazily, even as the imposing faunus decided to step as close as possible and stare him down. He didn't even raise his eyes to meet the White Fang member's own pair.

"Adam's lieutenant in the White Fang." He snarled out.

Roman just shrugged his shoulders and pulled out another cigar, lighting it up slowly, taking his time as the so called lieutenant began to sneer. He took a deep drag and opened his mouth, letting the smoke exit his lungs at their own pace.

"So you read Cinders little pamphlet for this mission?"

"I have."

"So you know who your current boss is, right?"

 _Oh, that definitely touched a nerve_ , Roman thought to himself as the White Fang leader bristled and flared his nostrils.

"Yes, and my only boss is Adam Taurus, I don't listen to humans." Spittle flew with his words, small splotches landing on Romans face. Roman reached into his coat, pulled out a small handkerchief, and wiped the spit off his face.

The cigar glowed brightly.

"I see." A simple reply. Short, curt, and easily understood.

 ***WACK***

"ARGH!"

Just like the wailing Roman decided to dish out on the man. His cane shot out and slammed into the lieutenant's knee, causing it to collapse. Several other members took up their arms and readied themselves for to fight but Roman merely stalked around the lieutenant, his cane swinging in wide arcing circles.

"So you don't take orders from 'humans'?" He said sarcastically even as the man got up and drew his massive saw weapon. Roman stifled a laugh when the 'leader' came running at him, the teeth of his saw turning madly.

The blade came crashing down, throwing dust up when it dug into the hard concrete floor. Roman lashed out again with his cane, smashing the end into the faunus' face, sending him flying back.

"You ready to take orders now mister 'Adam's lieutenant'?" It was pathetic really, the man barely had any combat sense, relying instead on pure brawn. Easily overcome by anyone with a modicum of skill. Judging by his flared nostrils and heaving chest though, Roman assumed the answer to his question to be a resounding 'no'.

"Fuck you. I've heard all about you Torchwick. A pathetic excuse even amongst other humans. Cinder can give me all the orders she wants but I only listen to Adam Taurus. A racist piece of shit like you has no right to order me!"

Roman pinched the bridge of his nose, stemming the oncoming wave of headaches that hit him. In the moment he closed his eyes, Roman also stepped to the side, dodging another terribly aimed blow while lashing the hooked end of his cane out to wrap around the man's neck.

He pulled sharply to the floor then spun around his falling form. Roman placed a knee into his back as he pulled on his cane, choking the brash lieutenant.

"Alright then, let's clear the record. I don't like you. I don't like Adam either for that matter. In fact, let me make this clear, I hate all of you," the faunus behind him snarled in protest –the one in front of him tried but quite literally choked on his words- "but not for the reasons you're probably thinking of, because I don't give a shit if you're a faunus."

That drew several confused looks.

"Your cute little animal traits –the ones you keep prattling on about all the time- they mean nothing to me. No, the reason I hate you is far simpler." He fished out a cigar and lit it slowly.

"You're sloppy." Such a simple statement that grabbed their attention.

"It's a problem I've found even with my own organization. Sloppiness leads to failure and failure usually leads to cuffs. So of course I don't like you, but not because your look like some furry wannabe, but –and I need your full attention here- because you're going to get me killed and I don't like people who actively shorten my lifespan."

He continued, even as the faunus below him struggled twice as hard.

"So let me make this clear, I'm not going to let you get me killed. I don't care if you pledged yourself to **only** follow Adam's orders. If you don't follow my orders to a 'T'," Roman leaned in, whispering the last words harshly and letting the smoke seep into the lieutenant's ear, "I'll personally introduce you to the floor, and I promise, the meeting, will be _intimate._ "

"…Fu-"

Roman slammed his head into the floor. HARD. Cracks appeared in the concrete where he dug the White Fang members head into the ground.

"You ready to listen now?" He grabbed the man's skull and pulled upwards, dragging it out of the tough stone. "Or do you want another date?"

"Ugh…" The faunus let out hacking coughs, blood trailed down his forehead and covered his face in crimson lines. "…fuck-"

 ***BOOM***

Roman slammed his face back into the concrete, digging it further into the ground.

"Not the right answer. Ah, one moment please." He looked up at the rest of the faunus, many of whom had their weapons drawn but had hesitant looks on their face. "Anyone else feel like getting involved? No? I thought so."

He brought the increasingly bloodied face back up, it seemed like he had broken some teeth with that last slam. Looked quite painful he noted to himself.

"So, are you ready now?"

"I'd rather die."

Roman sighed to himself, smoke drifted into the air. These fanatical types were always the most difficult to deal with –no empathy really, it's like they never thought of how it impacted him! So he decided to take a different route.

"Ugh…What is it going to take to get you to just work with me?" He asked carefully, taking care not to give any room for true negotiation to take place.

"There is nothing you can do to get me to work for you." If looks could kill, Roman would have died thrice over by now.

"Didn't Adam send you here to work with me?" Seriously, was every White Fang member this imbecilic? It was like they were trying to be as obstructive as possible.

"Don't be so presumptuous-"

"Wow, I'm impressed you know such a large word. Adam must have trained you quite well."

"Fuck off. Adam would never allow the White Fang to heel for a human!" He shouted loudly, raising his saw up once again. Roman sighed quietly to himself.

"And exactly what makes you think I'm asking you to heel?" _Oh god…_ Roman thought to himself as the truth began to dawn on him. This idiot thought working with humans was heeling to them.

"You expect us to follow the orders of a human!"

"Ok then." _Oh for the love of God…_ Roman's thoughts turned violent for a brief flash at the reply. Today was just getting worse and worse as it went on. "Look how about this then; I won't order you around," the White Fang leader snarled at him but allowed him to continue, "you and your friends over there-" Roman waved a hand nonchalantly, "-don't have to do a single thing I say."

Roman let the information sink in for a moment, allowing the idea to ruminate in their heads before continuing.

"All I'm asking, is that we work TOGETHER –I said together by the way, so please put your little saw sword thing away- and come up with a plan." Roman finished with a small wave of his hands and a smile. If this worked somehow…

"What entails working together?" It was actually working…Good lord these peons were also morons apparently.

"We sit down and talk; figure out a general plan where **you** lead your faunus friends and **I** lead my goons, and _together_ we accomplish our goals."

"And pray tell, what are your goals?"

"To make sure Cinder doesn't turn me into ash." That answer got a scoff from several of the gathered faunus, though it didn't bother Roman at all –survival came first and Roman liked looking out for numero uno. "Look, you can even consult with Adam, ask him how you should proceed, I won't stop you as long as the end result is me living."

"Do you care about anything other than yourself?" He snarled out. This human was just like the rest; selfish, arrogant, evil, and greedy. He could see it in his eyes, his posture, everything.

"Nope." Another truthful statement! He was certainly on a roll now. "But let's be honest, would you expect anything else from a guy like me?" He spread his arms wide and held his posture with complete and utter confidence.

"Of course not." Another scathing reply, but it bothered Roman little. "Fine then human, I'll consult with Adam about this matter, but let me warn you, if he tells me to kill you…" He let the threat hang in the air as he stalked back towards his fellow White Fang members.

It was Roman's turn to scoff now as he rolled his eyes and spun his cane again. It's like he forgot the massive beat down Roman had happily given to him just moments earlier.

"Yeah, you go do that." Roman replied as he walked away, heading back into his office.

What a fucking day.

* * *

"Yeah man, the White Fang are in town!" Otis said excitedly to his friend, slamming a beer onto the oak table. Spittle flew from his mouth as he continued. "Adam Taurus himself is here! Says he's going to end the hostility aimed at faunus here in Vale!"

Tukson gingerly reached for his own mug of alcohol as he listened to his friend rant on about the White Fang. Once he say the posters he immediately decided to scope out some other White Fang sympathizers and find out what they knew. So far the experience was…

"They say they got these crazy super soldiers that can fights hunters and shit man!"

…eye opening to say the least. Tukson grinned back at his associate and motioned for him to continue.

"You've worked with 'em before right man?" Otis asked, his voice dropping to a whisper despite the fact they were both sitting in Tukson's bookstore with the blinds closed, doors locked, and cameras off. Tukson just sighed and nodded in affirmation.

"Nice, so that means I'll see you at the rally right?" Tukson perked up at the question. Rally? What the hell was this all about? No one had told him about a rally coming up, well, until now that was.

"I actually haven't heard, what's this rally all about?" Otis' jaw dropped at Tukson's question, he slapped his knee and gestured his beer towards him.

"What d'ya mean you ain't heard? Adam Taurus is scheduling a special rally for faunus across Vale who are interested in becoming full-fledged White Fang members. You're going right?" He asked, eyes narrowing slightly as he took another deep gulp.

Tukson felt a bead of sweat pool up on his brow. A recruitment rally here in Vale was the last thing he wanted to hear about.

"Yeah, I'll be there. Gotta go show my support you know." He answered absentmindedly. _What a damn shit show…_ he thought to himself darkly. Adam Taurus in town, recruitment rallies going on, and he had no clue what the hell it was all for. The White Fang usually stayed away from Vale, focusing most of its resources in Atlas, where discrimination was more prevalent. Vale was a nice place now that he had lived here for so long, the people were friendly and no one gave the White Fang any attention.

Hell, he would say that people were so friendly to faunus here **because** the White Fang didn't intervene.

God he didn't want to leave yet.

"You alright there Tuk?" Otis asked worriedly to his friend.

"What?" Tukson snapped his head upwards and grinned lightly, shaking his head of his thoughts and coming back to reality. "Yeah, I'm just thinking about how far we've all come."

"Yeah, the White Fang have really made the difference in this fight haven't they man. It's finally happening, the rise of the faunus!" Otis waved his hands as he said that, as though he were talking about some fabled prophecy. Tukson knew better though, his hands gripping tightly to his beer, the White Fang had done nothing but made it so much worse for them.

He bit his lips, stopping the traitorous words from exiting his lips. Otis was another fanatic he had known for a little bit back when he ran propaganda jobs for the White Fang. Back in the day, Otis used to be so excited to know an actual White Fang member. If he found out that Tukson had backed out of his White Fang life…

"So a rally right? Where is it being held?" Tukson asked. He had already decided to commit himself to helping stall the spread of White Fang influence in Vale so at the very least going to a rally would keep the target off his back as he worked.

"It's supposed to be at some warehouse in the Corvix district." Tukson nearly choked on his beer when he heard that. Otis roughly pounded on his back as he continued speaking. "Yeah, surprised me too, Corvix district is where mister fancy pants operates. You think Adam got him to work for him?" Tukson continued letting out a hacking cough. Roman Torchwick working with the White Fang –no fucking way that could ever happen.

"Well I guess we'll find out when we get there right?" Tukson said wearily. Hopefully that faunus girl was staying out of all this shit, it'd be a shame to see her get radicalized in a city as nice as Vale.

"So you are going! Nice cause I kind of need a ride there." Otis said, laughing throatily as he slapped an arm around Tukson's shoulder.

Tukson laughed as well -a fake laugh certainly, but Otis was about as bright as a box of crayons put into a trash compactor.

 _God damn…What a shit show…_ Tukson thought to himself grimly _._

* * *

 **A/N: Gonna be a short authors note here this time but I was pleased with the end result for this chapter, it felt a bit weak at certain parts but I put the work in to finish it and I'm proud of that. Aside from that thanks to all of you who chose to favorite, review, or follow!**

 **I'm loving the election cycle even more as well for anyone participating. If you are keeping up, leave a review or pm me what candidate you're supporting and why. I might actually start a blog site detailing each candidate and their policies for the layman.**

 **If you're interested in that kind of thing tell me! Also I think I'll be starting another story soon!**

 **So look forward to that!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Here's chapter 8 for you guys now. I hope you guys really enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

Midnight Meetings

* * *

I remember way back in the day when my dad used to tell me 'Jaune, violence is **always** an acceptable answer when someone's being a total ass.' Then my mom would slap the back of his head and tell me otherwise…Looking back on it now from today, dad was definitely right… Jaune thought to himself as tree sap dripped down Pyrrha's back. Every book he read and every story he was told that involved shit like this always had that corny slow motion thing but he never actually believed it.

Until now that was.

Watching that jar fly through the air went by fast, but when it shatter against Pyrrha's back, time seemed to stop in that instant. Shards of glass frozen in air as she recoiled from the sudden blow. Sap spread across her back in an instant and froze just as fast as his brain struggled to process what had just happened.

A tree next to him swayed slowly in the wind, its branches creaking as they moved. Time –the frustratingly slow thing it could be- finally caught up. Yang moved first –her feisty attitude leading her to draw her weapon almost immediately against Cardin.

"WHAT THE HELL!" She shrieked out, the air around her igniting like it was napalm. Cardin's grin immediately melted off his face as she turned on him, the bravado he felt just moments ago dying in the face of the inferno.

Yang stomped towards him, fist cocked back and ready to strike.

She stopped when Jaune placed a hand on her shoulder, his lips thinned into a grim line. He shook his head and pulled her back gently, beckoning her to let him pass.

"Jaune I swear to shit, you can't let him get-" He stopped her with a sharp glare. The rest of team RWBY and JNPR recoiled slightly at his thunderous expression. It was the first time any of them had ever seen him so upset with anything.

Yang stepped back, allowing Jaune to move forwards unimpeded. He squared his shoulders and set his blue eyes on Cardin.

"You know Cardin," Jaune started sticking as much 'Roman' into his voice as he could manage, "I should really thank you." Cardin shot him a confused look and opened his mouth, but Jaune barreled on uninhibited. "I say that I want to be a hero, and you give me ANOTHER opportunity to save your ass from the slaughter Yang was about to put you through." His hands clenched and released, muscles tensing over and over rhythmically.

"Oh really now Jaune, well I guess I'm lucky to have a guy like you as a good friend right?" Cardin's mocking voice rang out into the clearing, loud for all to hear. Jaune paid it no mind as he drew his sword, leaving the shield in the soft grass.

He didn't plan on using it anyways.

"Oh cmon Jaune," Cardin twisted his lips into a vile grin, "no need to get violent. It was a joke man." He said as he drew his own mace out. This was too easy. Yang would have been problematic to fight -he was confident in his skill no doubt, but the boxer was ranked second in their entire year in fighting ability. Jaune, conversely, was the king of average ability; average skill, average speed, average everything really.

This was going to be –as Jaune had just said- an absolute slaughter.

Everyone remained silent, breathing stilled as Jaune and Cardin glared each other down. Each one slowly shifting their weight from foot to foot, anticipating the first move.

Jaune broke the calm first, dashing low to the ground, one hand lashed out into the dirt as the other stabbed his sword forwards in a piercing strike.

Cardin parried with a swipe of his mace, he closed in immediately, intent on using his superior weight to bear down on the smaller leader. He kept his peripheral focused on the blade though, anticipating some sort of counter sweep.

What he didn't expect was a fist-full of dirt, grass, and rocks to be shoved into his face.

"Gah! What the fu-" He sputtered out, recoiling as the acrid material filled his mouth and nose. Jaune capitalized and lunged forwards driving his knee directly into Cardin's crotch as hard as he could.

Cardin let out a high pitched whine as he doubled over. Jaune gripped his sword with two hands and pummeled Cardin's exposed side with the pommel of his blade.

As Cardin curled up into a ball –a poor attempt at protecting his exposed body- Jaune abandoned his blade and turned Cardin to face him, letting his fellow leader see his furious expression. Cardin merely coughed as he did his best to curl back up and hold his abused kidney. One hand wrapped around his neck and squeezed.

"Cardin," Jaune whispered into his ear and paused waiting for a sign that he was listening, when Cardin flicked his eyes at him Jaune settled on that being a sign of recognition and continued, "I'm going to let you go, and the first thing you're going to do, can you guess what it is?" His voice came out harsh and threatening.

"A-Apologize?" Cardin wheezed out, in between sputtering breaths.

"Bingo." Jaune released his grip and lifted Cardin to his feet. When he stumbled and nearly fell down, Jaune surprisingly caught him, not letting him drop to the floor pathetically. He motioned for Cardin to move forwards, supporting him with his shoulder.

As they approached Pyrrha, Jaune tightened his grip on Cardin's shoulder and shot him another heavy glare. Yang snarled, her eyes narrowed and arms folded tightly across her chest.

Jaune swallowed hard, hoping to whatever God was out there that he was making the right decision. With a stoic expression he shoved Cardin forwards towards his teammate who had been cleaning tree sap and glass off her armor for the better part of the last couple minutes.

"Go on then, you know what to say." Jaune spat, his lips still twisted in anger and his hands remained clenched and taut.

Cardin felt his anger flare for a moment. Who the fuck was he to order him around? Using cheap tricks to beat him like that. He almost spun fully around to confront his blond nemesis again but stopped when their eyes met.

It was the first time he had ever seen Jaune with so much confidence before. In every battle simulation they took part in, Jaune always held an aura of worry about him –but the Jaune glaring him down had none of those meeker qualities. So he turned back slowly and faced the red haired student.

Pyrrha through all of this…was surprisingly unaffected. Sure, she was slightly mad at Cardin for having thrown a jar of tree sap at her but that was it –she was only slightly mad. She had spent her life being told to reign her emotions in, to hold them close to her chest and only allow content happiness fill her face. So when Cardin threw a jar of tree sap at her, her reaction was quite mundane. But watching the rest of her teammates react the way they did –hell, team RWBY reacted in a similar fashion in fact- was…she couldn't find a word for it.

What she did know is that it filled her with a small amount of warmth, knowing they cared for her in such a manner.

"Look," Cardin coughed out, still struggling through the pain of his abused crotch, "I-I'm sorry for the tree sap." He apologized, looking down and away in a mixture of shame, anger, and fear.

"Don't do it again." Pyrrha replied curtly, her eyes narrowing slightly as she wiped the last vestiges of sap off of herself. The sticky syrup that landed on her skin would need to be cleaned off in a shower, which unfortunately meant she would have to wait for them to return back to their dorms.

Which was still hours away.

Cardin looked up and opened his mouth but Jaune grabbed his shoulder and pulled hard.

"That's all we need to hear from you Cardin, now get out of here." Jaune said through clenched teeth as he pulled him out of the clearing and away from his friends. He had never felt so angry in his life. It would have been so easy to have just continued beating the downed teen but…

...he flicked his eyes back towards Pyrrha and their eyes met. Hers still a bright smiling green pair in contrast to his darkened blue. His gaze softened though, knowing he had made the right decision to end it fast.

"Alright Cardin, let me settle out some ground rules." Jaune spun Cardin so they stood face to face. He crossed his arms tightly across his chest and met Cardin's hard eyes with his own. "I really don't care what you do to me alright," Jaune paused as he let the information sink in slowly, Cardin surprisingly didn't sneer at him, opting instead to hold his steady gaze, "you can shit on me all you want Cardin -I'll fight back of course don't get me wrong, but if you ever mess with my friends again..." Jaune let the statement hang.

For several seconds they stood there, leader to leader, the bright fall leaves surrounding them. Slowly Cardin nodded in affirmation, his hands unclenched and relaxed by his sides. Jaune stuck out his right hand and Cardin took it in his own, their hands clasped tight as unspoken words of understanding passed between the two of them.

Both turned around succinctly and made their ways toward their respective parties.

Jaune let out a sigh of relief as he made it back into the clearing. He hadn't realized how stressful that had been until he saw the smiling faces of his friends as they crowded around him.

"Nice job Jaune!" Yang clapped him on the shoulder and shook him lightly, grinning ear to ear. "Glad to see that asshole finally get what he deserved. Though you could've kept going ya know, for my sake." She winked at him.

"Only a brute like you would want to see violence continued Yang." Weiss clicked at her teammate before nodding at Jaune. "Though I guess-"

"He totally deserved it though!" Ruby chimed in happily, elbowing Jaune lightly in the ribs before blowing a small raspberry at Weiss. Ren shot him a tired grin and nodded at him, another silent exchange between the two lone males of their group. Nora excitedly bounced over to him, loudly proclaiming that this was the start of Jaune's future as a superhero.

Jaune laughed and swiveled his head to find Pyrrha. When he found her, he felt his heart soar for a moment to see her happy expression. Sometimes he felt that Pyrrha only smiled because that was the only expression she actually knew how to express but seeing her eyes narrow with joy and her lips part with laughter let him know that at the very least, in this exact moment, she was happy to be there with them.

And that's all he really needed.

She mouthed to him that they could talk later when they returned to their dorms and he nodded appreciatively, an uncontrollable grin forming on his face.

Hiding behind her gathered crowd of friends, Blake smiled contently. This was truly the first time she had ever felt so…happy to be in a group. Back when she was still in the White Fang, her smiles were few and far between, so being here with her new teammates and being able to grin so much left her feeling glad.

She clenched the poster in her pocket.

Slowly they went back to collecting their tree sap and eventually after that, they returned back to Beacon Academy.

* * *

"You were like BAM and WOOSH! Just like Slothman Jaune!" Nora spoke excitedly, pantomiming several punches and kicks. All of which never happened in his fight with Cardin just hours ago. Jaune shot Ren a confused look -he had learned quickly that Nora didn't pick up on his questions even when he overtly asked them. Ren sighed and answered Jaune's unspoken question.

"Slothman is the superhero of a comic book Nora has been keeping up with recently." Jaune rolled his eyes and snorted. _Of course, what else could it have possibly been,_ Jaune thought to himself.

"Ren are you telling him about Slothman! Oh Jaune you just HAVE to read this comic it's great!" Nora quickly ran to her bed, fishing out several comic books from…somewhere? Seriously, he had never even seen her buy books before so where she got these from was a complete conundrum to him. The orange haired girl –Jaune sometimes wondered if she was in some way related to Roman but considering their vastly conflicting personalities he doubted that- shoved some comics into his chest as she excitedly chattered on about Slothman.

"So you're gonna want to start with silver age Slothman. Most people agree it's his best showing though he is kinda OP you know? You can skip the golden age since it's pretty garbage! Nerfed him so much I swear…" she grumbled quietly to herself before continuing. "But really what you need to get to is the New 52! It's got this brand new story line where Slothman is born as part sloth, part man, and it's incredible! His main villains-"

"I think you should let Jaune read the comics first Nora. Spoilers would ruin it for him don't you think?" Ren piped up quickly after seeing Jaune's increasingly confused facial expression. He smiled when Jaune shot him a thankful look.

"Oh man! Thanks Ren! Can't be spoiling the best parts for Jaune!" She grinned and latched herself onto Ren's back mindlessly. He sighed, knowing that resistance was, for the most part, futile.

Jaune laughed as he stretched out his limbs –a long day of menial labor really tightened those muscles up. He flicked his eyes towards the bathroom door as Pyrrha walked through it. She smiled at him and gestured curiously towards Nora and Ren.

"Same old thing Pyrrha. Same old thing." Jaune answered succinctly, his answer garnered a simple nod as she took her place next to him on his bed.

She stared at him for a long second before speaking up.

"Thank you Jaune."

"No problem, teammates gotta stick together right?" Pyrrha felt her lips form a warm smile.

"I suppose so Jaune. I suppose so." She swung her legs mindlessly as she bit her lips, a question forming on her mind. "Where did you learn to fight like that?" Jaune had been training quite hard but the way he fought Cardin was…interesting to say the least.

 ***Cough* *Cough*** Jaune leaned over, sputtering out coughs as he pounded a fist into his chest. _Okay, should've expected this line of questioning to come up eventually._ He thought to himself as he searched for an answer. Glancing over at Pyrrha netted him a worried look and sympathetic hand on his back.

"I've…uh…well to be honest that's just…just…um…how…I've always fought." Pyrrha raised an eyebrow at his sheepish figure. He had never fought in a manner such as that before so it wasn't exactly 'believable' by any stretch of the word.

At her confused expression Jaune quickly amended his statement.

"I mean, I just tend not to fight like that since, you know…hunters are supposed to be honorable and stuff…and heroes don't…they don't do things the easy way right?" Jaune said quietly.

 _What a pathetic lie…_

Pyrrha nodded at his statement. It wasn't unthinkable she supposed, that Jaune would purposefully avoid 'dirty' fighting tactics –especially in a hunter academy. Back in Mistral her teachers always told her that proper huntresses face their problems standing tall with their backs always pointed towards those they wished to protect.

"I see. That makes sense I suppose." They both sighed at the same time, one smiling lightly with her eyes closed and the other frowning and slumped over.

As they went off to bed, Jaune's dreams turned to those of shrouded figures.

* * *

"Age?"

"29."

"Type?"

"Puma"

"Gender?"

"…Really?"

"Just answer."

"…Male…"

"Name?"

"…Tukson…" He sighed out. The man blocking him from entry nodded him through and continued the same line of questioning to the next individual.

The rally, as he had figured out for himself, really was being held in a warehouse at the Corvix district. It was ironic when he really thought about it. The district was named after a man who emigrated from Mistral after being hounded for his anti-faunus rhetoric, then proceeded to strong arm several of Vale's smallest construction companies using a variety of blackmail and bribery, all culminating in the creation of Vale's largest docking station, which he then used to funnel a huge variety of drugs into the city.

Of course, most citizens only knew of him as Daniel Corvix the Portside Savior; the guy who created hundreds of new jobs and helped lift the economically struggling city back to working order.

Now the same port was being used to house a terrorist organization hell bent on overthrowing the ruling councils across all of Remnant.

 _The more things change, the more they stay the same…_ Tuskon thought to himself as he pushed passed another group of young faunus.

He was surprised by the turnout to be frank. Vale was well known for its faunus positivity and general progressiveness in comparison to the other countries so he didn't expect so many to feel 'disenfranchised' by the government here. Clearly he was wrong to think that however.

As he looked around him the noise quickly died out as everyone stared openly in one direction. Tukson narrowed his eyes and slowly turned his head, following their glares.

"No fucking way…" Tukson's whisper was echoed by several others. His fists clenched into tight balls as he swallowed down the fear and apprehension. This wasn't just unexpected, it was pure insanity. He had worked with the White Fang for years, he knew the group inside and out. He felt a bead of sweat roll down the nape of his neck.

For standing in front of them all, clad in his usual flashy garb, was Roman Torchwick.

"Well, I was going to start with introductions," Roman said loudly, spreading his hands wide, "but it seems like you all know who I am." He paused, arms still outstretched, waiting for a reply of any sort. When no one spoke up he continued unabashed. "Well without further ado, let me introduce your speaker for the night." He chuckled as a smaller –Tukson couldn't see very well but it seemed like some canine type- faunus took to the stage and began addressing the crowd. "Please give a warm welcome to David Hawkwood."

Roman was the only one who clapped. Everyone else seemed to be focused on his mere appearance at the event.

Murmurs exploded from the crowd, the gathered faunus first looked to each other in confusion, then they looked towards the White Fang representatives who merely shrugged and gestured back towards the stage.

Roman grinned as he pulled out a small remote from his coat. Pressing a small button turned on a hologram projection next to David. The bold logo of Atlas hung lazily in the air, spinning slowly and glowing bright.

"Who here doesn't know what this is?" David asked the crowd. "Atlas! Arguably the most powerful country in the known world as of right now. Its military prowess mixed with its technological advancements have propelled it far beyond the other countries of Remnant, but at what price?" Tukson inwardly groaned, this was the same speech he given years ago. Nothing had ever truly changed it seemed.

As David droned on pointing out the faunus abuse Atlas was known for Tukson focused less on the criminal's words and more on the situation itself. Roman Torchwick was no friend of the faunus –what with his history of abusing faunus for menial labor and the like. So why the hell was he here giving a pep talk to a bunch of faunus. The White Fang would never-

" **WHAT!"**

Tuskon flinched when those around him roared in anger and indignation. He spun his head back towards Roman and saw…

Saw…

 _What the hell is that?_ Tukson's horrified mind cried out. Next to David Hawkwood was the projection of a faunus, it's skull opened up and a machine picking at its brain. The rest of the gathered faunus pressed forwards, all trying to get a better look at the image. Several White Fang representatives moved swiftly, keeping them from getting to close to the stage. Roman's grin was gone, Tukson noted, it was replaced with a grim frown, his hands wrung his cane like he was trying to strangle it.

What the hell did he miss while he was musing to himself?

"This" David gestured towards the hologram. "is what Vale assists in." The wrath in the room was palpable but David trudged onwards. "I won't lie to you, I have no clue what they're doing here, but the councils of Vale, Mistral, Vacuo, and Atlas are all a part of this. What this," David disgustedly waved at the hologram, "is I have no clue, but they are a part of it."

Tukson's eyes were locked firmly on the image of a poor faunus girl –her lips were twisted in anguish and her eyes were filled with terror.

She was alive as they did this to her…

What the hell was this? It couldn't be real, he reasoned to himself. The council of Vale always tried their best to further faunus rights throughout the years, his bookstore was a testament to their progressive attempts.

What in the fuck were they being shown?

"How many of you want to know the story behind this image?" Rage filled shouting filled the room from end to end. Tukson noted David's eerie smile. "The White Fang wants to know as well. That's why we exist!" His hands accentuated each words, bobbing up and down rhythmically, matching the pace of his speech. "To flush out the disgusting secrets of Remnant! We were given 'rights'" he spat the words out with venom, "to simply placate us! But placated we will remain no longer!"

Tukson looked around him and saw the crowd growing angrier and angrier. In an instant he was in the past, when he was younger and more easily manipulated by petty words. In an instant he remembered everything he felt back then in that moment; the rage, the desire, the passion. In an instant, he remembered…

...how wrong he had been.

Tukson quickly shook himself of his old feelings. The White Fang lied all the time and he was certain, though he had no evidence, that this was no different.

As the crowd grew more and more riled, Tukson quietly slinked away, having seen more than enough.

He paused as he felt a creeping sensation on his back, like fingers crawling across his back, searching for something hidden. Tukson whipped around but found nothing but a crowd of angry faunus, the hologram of a tortured girl, and a criminal mastermind leaning against the far wall, his green eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Tukson flicked his eyes across the warehouse one last time, eyes moving quickly across the crowd, up the walls, and…onto…the…bannister…

…

…

 _What. The. Fuck…_ Tukson's jaw almost dropped when he saw the black clad girl crawling on a bannister slowly.

Her tiny cat ears twitching as they caught each word being spoken with what he assumed would be crystal clarity. Tukson almost couldn't believe it –he probably wouldn't have if it wasn't happening right in front of his eyes- but it was Blake Belladonna. The teen girl who visited his bookstore just a little over a week ago.

 _Holy shit, how did she even get up there?_ There was no way they let her go up there on her own so the only logical explanation was that she snuck in. What kind of kid could do that so easily? Tukson almost slapped himself when the obvious answer popped into his mind almost instantly.

She was a huntress from the academy.

Tukson clenched his hands and calmly walked back towards the crowd, keeping the girl in his peripheral.

In his mind, the decision was already made.

He needed to talk to her.

* * *

Blake silently climbed her way down the side of the warehouse, her fingers gripped another rusted steel pipe as she lowered herself onto the cold concrete. She strained to hear the telltale pitters patters of approaching footsteps but only heard the distant sounds of faunus leaving the area. She breathed a sigh of relief and turned around intent on leaving the area to gather her thoughts.

"Enjoy the rally?" Blake froze when a voice sounded behind her. She hadn't taken more than ten steps out of the dark alleyway, who the hell was this? Blake relaxed her shoulders, one hand slinking towards gambol shroud as she turned to face...

"Tukson?" What the hell was he doing here? He hadn't seemed like a White Fang sympathizer from how happy he seemed to run his bookstore, but then again no one ever _looked_ like one. "I um…yeah it was interesting to say the least."

"Must have been pretty hard to hear though huh, lots of loud people tonight." Blake noted his tense posture and gripped her weapon harder.

"Ye-yeah…I was near the um…center of the group so I was having a bit of a tough time."

"Oh, the center?"

"…Yes…"

"So right there in the middle?"

"Um…" Was there a different definition of center that she wasn't privy of? What the hell was with this line of-

"I could have sworn I saw you sneaking around in the ceiling railings." Blake's eyes widened. Her arm was a black streak in the air as she whipped her sheath at his face, intent on knocking him out in the first blow.

To her surprise Tukson had his arm up and ready, blocking the thunderous blow and skidding back several feet. He looked up at her in surprise and opened his mouth.

"Holy shit kid…" He nursed his left forearm, gingerly fingering the already blackened area. She had almost broken his arm in one strike. Guess his theory was right; she was a huntress in training for sure. "Woah woah!" Tukson waved his arm as she reared back for another strike. "I'm not here to fight!"

Blake stumbled as she stopped her blow in midair. She narrowed her eyes and glared at him with her amber eyes. She bit her lip and slowly straightened her back, though she kept her weapon out and ready to strike at the slightest provocation.

"What do you want then Tukson?" She hissed out, still readying herself for some unseen assault.

"Why were you at the rally kid?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Tukson groaned, he wanted kids once upon a time, but every interaction he had with them had slowly ground that desire to nothing but dust.

"To see what they were trying to sell this time." Honesty was always the best policy as his mother always said -though Blake's glare was saying otherwise.

"You're a member?" She gasped, her glare reached Antarctic levels of cold. Tukson shook his head though, pushing out a tired sigh.

"No, not anymore. Not after Atlas." Blake's eyes softened the tiniest amount when she heard his words. He was probably talking about the Succession Day attacks; the first ever large scale attack on Atlas infrastructure with a death toll numbering in at over 100 people. But that was…

"That was years ago…"

"Yeah…it was." Tukson stared off into the darkness, his mind wandering back to mistakes, to lost opportunities, and to regrets. "I was a lot younger back then but I was so passionate. It was the first wakeup call that the White Fang weren't the progressive peace organization it touted itself as."

"…" What could she really say to something like that? She was only five years old when it occurred -12 years ago… "So why did you come tonight?"

"I already answered didn't I? To see what bullshit they were trying to spread this time."

"So you don't believe what they were showing." Blake said quietly. The image was…She had never seen something like that and while she knew the White Fang were evil that didn't mean humans were clean by any measure.

"No, I don't believe the narrative. The image is probably real, but I'm sure there's another answer, one that isn't seeded in violence or hate." Tukson nodded to himself as his confident voice rang out in the night. He turned his eyes to the smaller girl in front of him, her head hanging low. "So why were you there kid?"

Blake snapped her head back up towards him. "I was honestly there for the same reason, I…I'm also an ex-member…"

Tukson whistled in surprise, ex-member at her age? She must have been strong as hell to get away from the hunters. With that kind of strength…

"Did you see Torchwick?" He almost laughed at how fast her expression turned to one of disgust.

"What the hell was he doing there? The White Fang doesn't work with people like him." She practically vomited the words out in pure contempt. Tukson sighed.

"No, they usually don't. Which means there's something big going on." He nodded to her, she nodded back and steeled her gaze. "You plan on finding out don't you?" She nodded even more furiously, her eyes filled with determination. "I plan on it as well, so how about we work on this together."

Blake opened her mouth to reject his offer but was stopped when he held his hand up.

"You're a student at Beacon right?" She closed her mouth and confirmed his theory. "You won't be able to get the kind of information that I can then, you're going to be busy with school."

Her rebellious eyes openly showed contempt for his words. She could do this!

"What about you? How are you going to get any information when you have a bookstore to run?" Blake quickly shot back.

"I can take breaks kid and besides, I can get information by doing what I usually do, asking questions."

She snorted loudly as his so called solution. As if asking questions would get him anywhere, non-members were on a strict need to know basis.

Tukson practically read her mind though and steeled himself for the possible explosion that would follow his next statement.

"Yeah kid, I'm gonna ask for information. After all, I'm still technically a member." Blake's eyes widened as she reared back for another strike, only to stop when Tukson cringed and put his hands up in a measly defensive posture. "Woah kid! Calm down!"

"You're a member!" She spat out, holding gambol shroud tightly in her fist.

"Only because leaving means death, don't know if you can tell kid but I'm not exactly a super human fighter like you. I don't stand a chance against the hunters."

She held her weapon steady, her glare softening only slightly.

Tukson continued. "I'm only a member still because I wanted to try and help people escape the violence of the White Fang early." She lowered her weapon but kept her wary eyes on him.

"How can I believe that?"

Shit, how the hell was she supposed to believe that. He didn't exactly have a power point presentation to show her or anything, hell, this was kind of an impromptu thing from the start.

"I could ask you the exact same thing kid, but keep in mind I approached you and asked you for help. Not the other way around."

They stood in silence as Blake mulled over her choices. The cold fall winds blew around them, carrying the vibrant leaves off their homes in the trees and off into the night.

Eventually, after several minutes, she spoke up.

"I'm sorry but I can't work with you." Tukson sighed, having expected that answer in full. He reached into his pocket, rolling his eyes when she brought her…ribbon-knife-gun thing back out. Pulling out his scroll slowly and carefully didn't make her put the weapons down –if anything she seemed to grip them tighter.

"Okay then, I get it, at least let me extend the olive branch then, we can trade numbers and I'll freely supply you with any information I get." Tukson resisted the urge to laugh as she awkwardly kept one hand on her weapon and pulled her scroll out with the other.

They traded contact information quietly, neither party saying a word.

Blake put gambol shroud away –to Tukson's relief, that thing looked damn sharp- and slinked away, her eyes locked on his form. Tukson waved her goodbye but received nothing in return, so he turned around and walked away as well.

As he walked back to his home he stared back at his scroll, a new contact brightly illuminating the screen.

 _Black Cat…?_ Tukson refused to laugh but god, she was definitely an interesting one.

Hopefully he could keep her out of trouble.

* * *

 **A/N: There's the end of the chapter! A lot shorter compared to the previous ones but hopefully still pleasing. I've been struggling a bit recently in my personal life due to pure laziness so this week I'll be focusing on getting my ass in gear and working hard.**

 **This chapter signals a shift in setting finally. After re-reading a couple chapters I realized my story feels kind of bland sometimes. I haven't exactly hammered out exactly why I feel that way as I read it but I'll be trying to mix it up a bit with the next few chapters. Nothing big but hopefully it'll be impactful enough to make a difference.**

 **POLITICAL TALK:**

 **DONALD TRUMP HAS BASICALLY LOCKED IN THE NOMINATION. IS THIS REAL LIFE?**

 **No really though this is unprecedented. The GoP threw everything at this man to stop him from grabbing the nomination. Every single dirty, disgusting, and misleading tactic you could think of, they used constantly. News outlets misreporting his every word, debate moderators ganging up on him with other candidates, and even straight up admitting that they were trying to steal delegates from him.**

 **To put it into proper perspective, the GoP spent over 100 million dollars in negative advertisements against him total. That is 100 million into attacking their own front runner. THEIR OWN FRONT RUNNER. Donald Trump spent approximately 25 million this election cycle –this is the lowest out of every single candidate in the race by the way including democrats- to beat them. He spent less than a quarter of what they spent to completely destroy their little established party.**

 **Whether you hate him, whether you love him, one must admit that Donald Trump has done what was once considered impossible; beaten the establishment giants.**

 **This is historic.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Here is the chapter nine of my story! Thank you to everyone who has followed, favorited, and reviewed! I'm really thankful that all of you have been so supportive! I hope you guys stay with me for the rest of the ride!**

* * *

Trust

* * *

 ***click***

…

 ***click***

…

 ***click***

"Wait what?" Roman quickly went back a page on his browser, something having caught his attention. A neat silver and white page filled his screen. Photos of overly exuberant individuals managing a variety of scientific tools were splashed across the screen.

The title was neatly tucked into the corner of the website; **Yellow Brick Research Foundation.**

"Aspro Multi-Goods funds a high tech research organization?" Roman asked himself aloud. It wasn't unheard of for large transnational companies to have their own little research groups but usually they focused on their specific market. Aspro didn't deal in the tech industry like other corporations, namely the big dogs like Schnee Industries and Anselmo Pharmaceuticals.

As he dug in further and further into their commitments and goals he began to notice a pattern of absence spattered throughout their page. They never directly stated their goals and skirted around what they had accomplished so far.

Their biggest accomplishment was supposedly a new form of wire for transferring energy?

 _This has got to be the biggest sack of shit I've ever seen…Aspro funded these guys over 100 MILLION lien for a fucking wire?_ His thoughts rang violently against the walls of his mind.

Roman decided to take a metaphoric step back, opening up several windows on his screen; Beacon Academy buying unknown supplies from Aspro, Aspro funding an esoteric research group, Aspro dealing a covert trade deal with Schnee Shipping, the Vale and Atlas councils having a closed door session with the heads of their respective academies, the extensive research bill passed by both Valerian and Atlesian governments.

So much he had garnered over the past few weeks of research. So much that seemed completely unlinked to the untrained eye. Yet for a man like Roman, the connection were so clear to him, every line could be drawn between each object but the one thing missing from all of it was the seemingly elusive question; why?

What the hell were they trying so hard to accomplish and cover up?

He took a look at all of it and leaned back in his chair.

"What the hell is this?" He absentmindedly grabbed the cup of coffee presented before him. "Thanks Neo." Said girl rolled her eyes at the complete dismissal of her arrival.

Ever since Roman had started researching this stupid little group, he hadn't acknowledged her presence properly a single time. Hell, she got attention from Jaune nowadays and that was saying something.

Since they met exactly once every other week.

 ***CRASH***

She jumped when the glass mug shattered against the floor. Neo immediately teleported to Roman's side, watching him with worried blue and green eyes. She nervously tugged on his sleeve.

Roman stayed steady, his eyes darting across the screen, his hand clenching the mouse so tightly it cracked on the side.

Slowly he closed out of every window and clasped his hands on his lap.

A bead of sweat rolled down his brow, leaving a small trail of clear sweat in its wake. Roman opened his mouth and spoke quietly, his voice barely loud enough for himself to hear.

"Aura research…"

* * *

"However the battle was not completely lost, the faunus were able to-"

 ***Ring* *Ring* *Ring***

Oobleck stopped his lesson as a small chiming noise filled the class room. He pushed his glasses up and rapidly moved his gaze from student to student –they shirked under his strict gaze.

 ***Ring* *Ring* *Ring***

"Uh…so-sorry professor." His head flew to one Jaune Arc, who was awkwardly trying to get his scroll to stop ringing. Oobleck sighed, weighing his options in his head –he of course came up with his answer rapidly.

"No need mister Arc, you may either take the call outside then shut the scroll off, avoiding future interruptions."

Jaune sheepishly got up and stepped out of the classroom, slouching embarrassedly.

Once outside, the door firmly shut behind him of course, Jaune answered his scroll.

"…Roman?" He asked hesitantly.

"Jaune." Said blond immediately took note, Roman NEVER called him by his name before. "I'm calling in another favor."

Jaune immediately cringed, his hands gripping his scroll even tighter now.

"Roman, I'm in the middle of class." He hissed out. There was no way he could just leave and-

"You won't need to leave class Jaune. Just...Look, whenever you get the time, go find the headmaster. I have a series of questions you're going to ask him."

Jaune sighed, thank god it wasn't something insane like stealing something from the headmaster's office or breaking into some secured research facility. You couldn't be penalized for questions.

Hopefully.

"Alright what's the question Roman? I've got class still, hurry up."

"I'll send you the questions later alright. Just be ready okay?"

"Yeah, okay then." He hung up and walked back into the room, ducking his head from the stares he received. As he sat back down, Pyrrha glanced curiously at him from the corner of her eye.

 _Who was that?_ She wondered to herself.

* * *

 _Alright Jaune, relax. You got this. You ARE the man. Just asking the headmaster some questions, no big deal man. Just some questions…about aura…Oh God he's going to notice something is up._ Jaune's stream of consciousness went into full throttle as he approached professor Ozpin's office. He drew a deep breath as he pressed the intercom button.

"Um…Headmaster, I had some questions that I wanted to ask you." Jaune waited patiently for an answer. Seconds ticked by slowly. Those seconds slowly formed a single minute. Then another. Then another. Then another…

…

…

"Headmas-"

The elevator dinged and opened its doors. Jaune stared at the immaculate interior and hesitantly put a single foot in, testing for some unforeseen danger. In a moment he found himself heading up to Ozpin's office.

Jaune closed his eyes, allowing his mind to go through a quick overview of his conversation with Roman.

" _I need you to ask Ozpin some questions. Nothing crazy."_

" _What kinds of questions."_

" _They're gonna be about aura primarily. Tell me when you're ready kid."_

" _Woah! Wait, I can't just ask him questions about aura! I'm already supposed to know about aura."_

" _Yeah, but luckily you won't be asking too many simple questions. Ozpin won't suspect a thing as long as you play it off as curiosity."_

" _I don't know Roman…This sounds like it could go south really fast…"_

" _This is my favor kid, there's no turning back from this. C'mon, you'll be fine."_

" _Are…are you trying to pep talk me?"_

"… _Just ask him the damn questions…"_

Jaune plastered a nervous smile onto his face as he stepped off the elevator and found himself face to face with…

"…Professor Goodwitch?"

"You had a question mister Arc?" She raised an eyebrow as he craned his neck, looking around her for the elusive headmaster.

"Yeah…I was hoping…you know…um…" Jaune's words stumbled over each other as they left his lips. Glynda stuck her hand up, cutting off his words with the simple gesture. Jaune bit his lips and clenched his sweaty palms.

"Mister Arc, any question you have for Ozpin can be answered just as easily by myself," at Jaune's slightly disbelieving look Glynda sighed and added to her statement, "I assure you mister Arc, Ozpin and I share quite a bit of knowledge."

 _Shoot, why is professor Goodwitch even here!?_ He wasn't ready for this at all! Ozpin was supposed to be here –where the hell could he be and why was Goodwitch in…his…office… _Wait a minute…There's no way but…_

"Professor…um…why are you here in Headmaster Ozpin's office in the first place?" Jaune asked tentatively.

Glynda's expression darkened at his question, the temperature around them dropped below Schnee levels of cold in response. Jaune immediately decided that he asked the wrong question and had forfeited his life.

"Mister Arc…I can answer many questions…but not even I could tell you why I'm here." She sighed, her head drooping ever so slightly in defeat. Jaune awkwardly nodded at her answer.

 _Guess they aren't a 'thing'…_ He blankly thought.

"So, the question mister Arc?" She requested curtly, returning back to her usual form of perfectionism. Her arms crossed tightly against her chest.

"If-if it's fine with you, I'd re-really like to ask the headmaster instead." He replied, his voice quivering slightly through his bold statement. Glynda sighed and closed her eyes.

"I honestly don't know when the headmaster will be returning mister Arc." She looked at him and brought out her clipboard. "However, if you truly **need** to speak with the headmaster I will write in an appointment for you."

Jaune bit his lip. Roman was expecting answers to his questions soon and having to explain to him that he couldn't get Ozpin didn't seem like it would be easy. 'He wasn't there at the time' just didn't sound like it would really fly with a guy like Roman.

Professor Goodwitch was pretty smart to boot…I mean, she and Ozpin spent a lot of time together and truth be told she must have had a pretty equal amount of knowledge…

Right?

"A-Actually, maybe I **could** just ask you instead. I don't really feel like waiting that long." Jaune hesitantly asked, he shoved his nervous hands into his pockets.

"Oh." Glynda raised an eyebrow and nodded at him, she motioned for him to take a seat across from here at Ozpin's desk. "So, what exactly is it that you need to know?"

Jaune took a deep breath, calming himself as he stumbled out the first question.

"Aura comes from our souls, right professor?" Glynda merely nodded in affirmation and motioned for him to continue. "What exactly is our 'soul' supposed to be?"

Glynda cleared her throat as she prepared her answer. It wasn't uncommon for hunters in training to be wholly uninterested in aura and its intricacies –for most it was just another tool to kill grimm. Though, while she was still suspicious of his attendance into the school, it was nice to see some level of interest and dedication beyond the basics.

"The soul, Jaune, is…it's very difficult to give it a physical definition." She kept her eyes locked on him as he listened. "At best, we know that the soul is supposedly an intrinsic and abstract model of our very being."

"Oh…So we don't actually know what it is?"

Glynda's hands clenched the slightest amount at his question.

"No mister Arc, we do not."

"Why haven't there been any endeavors into aura or soul research in the past couple of years then? Wouldn't it be better to understand the most used tool in hunter history?"

Her brow furrowed slightly.

"There have been plenty of research into the topic I assure you Jaune. How do you think hunters have learned how to utilize aura in their martial arts?"

"But isn't that just practice? Not really re-research into what aura is or what the soul is." Jaune replied, swallowing his fear as much as he could. It stuck to the side of his throat though when Goodwitch raised an eyebrow.

"I see…" This wasn't the usual line of questioning she was used to from a student. Most hunters in training just asked about how to better utilize aura and the intricacies behind its applications. This was delving into very deep waters…"The council..." she paused, her fears behind the young boys entrance into the school resurfacing, "…does not allow people to do extensive research into aura. It is illegal." Such a dangerous answer, hopefully he would accept it and leave.

"It's illegal?" Jaune genuinely asked, going off script. He had no idea it was outlawed completely, that was…strange to say the least.

"Yes mister Arc, illegal. The council, along with most civilians, believe human souls and auras to be sacred." She added, carefully gauging his reaction. When she saw Jaune's' confused face she sighed.

"Human? What about faunus? Is there a difference there?"

Glynda cursed herself silently for the slight mistake.

"No mister Arc, there is no difference whatsoever. Despite popular belief, faunus are not some offshoot species of human, genetically they seem to be identical to humans." She amended quickly. "They just happen to have some…extra features."

"What about their souls?" He asked.

"…They would be the same…" She answered slowly. What was with this strange dialogue, she asked herself. These questions seemed to have no end goal in mind at all…

As though he were…

Fishing…

For…

Information…

She stood up and smiled amicably at Jaune.

"Is that your final question mister Arc?"

Jaune nodded and stood up along with her. She gestured him towards the elevator doors which would lead him back out of the office.

"May I ask you something in return mister Arc?" Jaune paused at the question, on foot already in the elevator. He turned around to face his professor.

"Ye-Yeah of course."

"What made you so interested in aura research?" She calmly asked, her visage never changing from amicability.

Jaune stuck his sweaty hands back into their respective pockets.

"I-I was just curious about how aura works you know..."

"I see. Well, have a wonderful afternoon." She waved him goodbye and as the elevator doors closed shut, she immediately pulled out her scroll and dialed a number in.

It rang once. Twice. Three times before a voice sounded.

"Glynda? What's the meaning of this?" Ozpin's surprised voice sounded through the speaker. "This line is-"

"The Arc boy, I have a problem with him, I'll explain when you get back but I'm keeping tabs on him from now on."

"...Very well, explain later. Don't do anything rash."

"If I do something, it won't be rash."

 ***click**

* * *

Jaune breathed a sigh of relief as he left the office and entered the cool grounds. He filled his lungs with the fall air and walked towards the gardens.

Once he found a nice secluded spot, he pulled his scroll out and dialed Roman.

"Kid…you get the answers?"

"Yeah…" Jaune pulled the small recording device out from his pocket, it had recorded every single word of their conversation -he had gotten it via delivery from Neo earlier in the day. "I've got everything. I kind of went off script a little bit though…" He winced, waiting for the biting retort or angry rebuke. None came however.

"It's fine, as long as you asked every single question I asked you to ask, you're fine. Look I'll tell Neo to meet with you now, just give her the recording and leave the rest to me." Jaune sighed in relief and nodded to no one in particular.

"Can I ask you a question Roman?"

"…" Roman held his tongue. Though at this point the boy did deserve to have some questions answered. "Fine, but don't expect me to answer it in full." Jaune sighed, having expected that already.

"What was up with these questions?"

"I just needed to know what they thought. Don't worry about it. Just keep doing what you're doing. By the way, we're going to be cutting contact for a while alright. Erase my contact info from your scroll. Complete blackout."

Jaune hacked out a cough.

"What!? But what about-"

"Look kid, I promise we'll train more, but right now we have to take a break, alright."

"Why?"

"…" He couldn't really tell him why, it was far too dangerous to let him know what they were doing. "Just trust me kid." What a joke, coming from a criminal like him.

"Really Roman?" Seemed like Jaune felt the same way.

"I know but look, I can't tell you everything alright. Just, c'mon kid, how many times have I lied to you so far?"

"How would I know that!?" Jaune asked incredulously.

"Fair point, but the fact remains. We need a blackout for just a couple of weeks."

"…"

"Kid?"

"…Alright…" Jaune finally relented. As much as he refused to trust Roman, he kind of did for some twisted reason. Roman was his only real 'ally' at the current moment. Hopefully this wouldn't come back to bite him in the ass sometime later.

"Great, Neo will be right over, she'll grab the recorder and dip out fast."

"Alright then." Jaune hesitated to hang up, knowing it would be the last time he could talk with the criminal for weeks. He didn't know why he said what he said, but he said it and he certainly couldn't take it back. "Roman, I still owe you some favors, don't forget that."

"I won't."

 ***click**

And with a one teleporting girl's despondent look later, Jaune knew that everything was going to be tougher from here on out.

He could feel it.

* * *

"The council-not allow-genetically-identical-the same." Roman fast-forwarded his way through the tape once again. He closed his eyes and focused on every single word that had been spoken in their short conversation.

 _Point number one, Glynda clearly lied to Jaune. She also seemed to have done it willingly. The closed doors research bill passed by Vale and Atlas specifically repealed the heavy ban on aura and soul research -covert and still unknown as of now, but still, she definitely knows this and still lied to Jaune._

 _Point number two, Glynda doesn't seem to know anything about faunus involvement with aura research. If she did, Jaune's random question about faunus would have garnered a far stronger reaction._

 _Point number three, Glynda knows something is strange with Jaune. She'll absolutely be keeping tabs on the boy now._

Roman thought lengthily to himself, he breathed deeply, letting delicious Tabaco fill his lungs. Smoking always helped him put the dots together and now was no different –there were plenty of dots that needed connecting here.

"Alright then," he sat up and straightened his shoulders, "what have I garnered?" He asked himself aloud, turning to face his computer. Files littered the screen, all of which he closed out of, leaving only a single file left on the glowing screen. It was a simple self-made chart, outlining his thoughts on what was currently going on.

He looked through it quickly, nodded, and began typing furiously. With each added snippet of knowledge he had garnered from his research the picture slowly came into view. Unlike a good puzzle, none of his pieces fit perfectly with each other, still lacking the specific details that would truly link them, but he would make do with what he had.

As he came to a finish Neo appeared with another cup of coffee. He graciously accepted and leaned back, looking at his hard work.

Neo stared at him expectantly.

"I dunno, it might be completely wrong but I'm certain this is on the right track." He gestured for her to read his little 'theory'. Her eyes slowly widened as she read through each line of text. By the end her eyebrows were practically shooting through the roof.

She looked back at him, her brow furrowed and lips slightly parted, she pointed at the screen and shook her head at him.

He shrugged.

"Like I said, it might be wrong, but I'm betting that it's not. I don't have every piece just yet, but don't worry, I'll get there eventually." He said confidently.

Though, it wasn't really a matter of whether or not he could –he absolutely could with enough time- he just hoped that he could do it before Cinder killed him off.

* * *

"He knows something Ozpin!" Glynda shouted at her leader and friend, who looked back at her with calm eyes. He saw the rage and worry in her eyes and sipped his mug.

"No Glynda, I don't think he does." When she opened her mouth to protest, Ozpin flashed her a stern look, quieting her instantly. "You might not be wrong on him working with someone else to gather information, but I do not believe that Jaune is doing this out of his own interests."

Glynda paused, hearing his words. She rubbed her left arm with her free hand and looked down. "You think someone might be using him." Her expression softened just a bit.

"No, that is a possibility. We might be wrong entirely. He could just be very interested in this kind of topic. It's not unheard of." Ozpin hoped that was the answer. Jaune, despite what Glynda might say at times, was a good student. A good leader, even. He cared about those around him and with the right push, could become a very powerful force for good.

"I suppose…I still want to-"

"Keep tabs on him Glynda, just be covert about it." Ozpin said, interrupting her. He knew that she wouldn't let something like this go and truth be told, he was okay with it. While he doubted that Jaune was some miscreant force of evil, Glynda had every reason to keep tabs on the boy. If it turned out that he was dangerous…well, they would deal with that if it came to that.

Ozpin cleared his throat, prompting Glynda to face him once more.

"You know your answer was very poor right?" He said sternly. In his heart he knew that Glynda was simply trying to keep Jaune out of trouble but her lie could be far more damaging for them in the long run.

The female hunter nodded, understanding the danger in her answer.

"I know, but I couldn't just tell Jaune that the council randomly decided to overturn years of legal precedent with no discourse."

"I suppose…Have they buried the documents online?" Ozpin asked swiftly.

"Yes, they aren't easy to find and even if someone were to find it the actual change is hidden in between several pages of completely useless drivel."

Ozpin held his metaphoric breath, it wasn't a lot to go off of and anyone who was truly dedicated could oust the bill in a second. And while no one really had a reason to read through pages of legal jargon, one dedicated soul could change everything.

It would have to be enough though. He had sacrificed a lot to get the deal through with the councils. If it came back to bite him…well, he could only hope that it would bite him after everything was resolved.

"Glynda, you'll report to me every Saturday on Jaune's activities." A simple order.

"I know."

"If he does anything suspicious though…"

"I'll contact you immediately."

"Tell Peter and Oobleck as well." He amended after careful consideration.

"Very well."

With that, the two departed from each other's company.

One left on an elevator back towards her quarters.

The other stayed in his spacious office, sitting on his chair, sipping his coffee.

He opened a series of local news reports and stared at them deeply.

He whispered to himself.

"Roman Torchwick…"

* * *

 ***ring* *ring* *ring***

"Huh?" A pale hand grabbed a ringing scroll and brought it to a similarly pale face. Amber eyes gazed at the screen, the caller id flashing brightly as it continued vibrating. The girl bit her lip as she placed a single finger over the green answer button. With a deep breath she pressed it and brought the scroll up to her ear.

"…Hello?" A deep voice sounded from the tiny speaker. "Black Cat, is this you?" He firmly vowed to kill himself if another human ever heard him saying that out loud. It was mortifying now that he had finally used it in practice.

"Yes…" Blake's quiet voice answered, her eyes shifting to the surrounding shadows. "Tukson, why are you calling me?"

"I told you I'd give you information didn't I?" He answered. Blake nodded to herself, it seemed Tukson was actually going to pull through with his deal. Though that didn't mean she was ready to blindly trust him.

"So what do you need to tell me?"

"The White Fang are gone."

Blake shot up from her chair like a bolt of lightning, one hand slammed into the table. Lucky for her, the library was pretty much empty –she had secluded herself to a private little corner.

"What do you mean they're gone!?" Her shrill voice scraped through the air.

"Exactly what I said. They. Are. Gone." He reiterated and while she couldn't see it, Tukson pantomimed small explosions with his hands.

"Where?" She rushed out. The White Fang couldn't be allowed to just run around and do whatever they wanted, she had to find out and…and…do something! She didn't know what she would do when she found them but some idea would surely form in her mind by then.

"No clue but I'm certain you wouldn't be able to go wherever they are." He said carefully, his whole body wincing when Blake hissed loudly into the speaker.

"Why not!?"

"Wherever they are it's outside the city. I've asked around and the people who weren't invited to this little soiree weren't told where it would be held." He could practically feel Blake's narrowed eyes burrowing into him, accusing him of everything. "The most I've got is that it's location is connected to the city in some way. Maybe a CCTS extension installation site or something."

"Shit." Blake slouched into her chair, her head drooped into her hands. The White fang had somehow just...disappeared right from under her nose and who knew what they were planning next.

"Blake…" Tukson's calm voice spoke clearly through her scroll. "Stay out of this for now." She glared at the scroll and opened her mouth to protest but was stopped when he continued. "You can't do anything. You have no connections to the White Fang that you can use. You can't find out where they using the internet either. Stay at school for now, drop some hints to the teachers that something big might happen in Vale soon. Ozpin knows that you used to be a member right?"

"How do you know that?" She accused him.

"He's the headmaster of a hunter training school. There's no way he doesn't know." He snorted loudly.

"I…I can't sit around and do nothing."

"Yeah I figured." Tukson sighed. "But you can't do anything to help find them kid. Let me deal with that and when I figure it out, I'll tell you, alright?"

"No, that is not 'alright'! How am I supposed to accept that!?"

"By saying yes?"

"Don't make jokes right now!"

"Alright jeez…" Tukson cringed at the venom she threw in her voice -kids were getting scarier every single year it seemed. "But the point still stands, there is literally nothing for you to do. They even stopped their dust shipment thefts."

"I refuse to sit by and-"

"Then don't, but something you should remember before you go quit school and decide that hunting the White Fang is your new profession," he paused and took a deep breath, "you are infinitely more useful where you are right now. If I find anything out I can tell you, and you can immediately go to the hunters of your school who can do something about it. If you leave though, who knows when you'll be able to get a message out to the right people."

Blake gnawed on her lips, one hand wrung the edge of her table in fury as she listened to him speak.

"I'm not telling you to stop fighting the White Fang," in his heart he was but she didn't need to know that, "I'm just asking you to wait. That's it."

"…"

"Can you do that Blake?"

"…How long?"

"Max, two weeks. Nothing more than that."

"That's a long time."

"You can use that time to scout for potential White Fang in Vale," there were none, he was pretty sure about that by now, "maybe some were left behind for something else. I'll find out where the big boys went."

"…"

"Well?"

"Find out where they went Tukson. Two weeks."

"Aye aye mam." He said, sarcasm dripping with every word. Funny how teens thought they were so above their elders nowadays. Though she was probably a lot stronger than him when he really thought about it.

 ***click**

Blake hung her scroll up and gathered her belongings. She walked out of the library and headed back to her dorm room where her teammates were waiting. She ignored the curious gazes and climbed up to her bunk. She stared quietly at the ceiling, her eyes trying desperately to bore a whole through it with her glare.

"You um…you alright Blake?" Her blond teammate asked of her.

"I'm fine." She mumbled out.

"Doesn't sound that way…"

"I know." She ended the conversation on that note and turned over, covering herself with the sheets and placing the pillow firmly over her head, drowning out all further noise from the room.

* * *

"Blake? Blake? Blake? Blake?"

"Yang, she's tired, leave her alone." Weiss reprimanded quickly, pulling her blond teammate aside and towards a secluded corner where she, Yang, and Ruby sat huddled together.

"You think it's-" Yang threw up an intertwined set of index and middle fingers.

Ruby cocked her head and shot Weiss a confused glance.

"It means boyfriend Ruby." Weiss explained quickly. She moved her gaze back towards Yang. "I don't think so though, I'm pretty sure we would know by now if it was a boy."

"You mean I would know." Yang retorted. "I **AM** her teammate you know." Weiss rolled her eyes and snorted at the statement.

"Yeah exactly, and if you knew it was a boy there's no way you would keep silent about it."

"I can keep secrets!"

"You mean like all those stories about Ruby you tell me and Blake? The ones Ruby told you to keep secret from the world."

"Yang!"

"I did no such thing!"

"Did you know that one time, Ruby went into the town market wearing nothing but her unde-"

"Weiss!" Ruby quickly shot her hands out, smothering her mouth and silencing her instantly. Weiss eventually pried Ruby's hand off and shot her an icy glare.

"Look, I think we need to focus on the main objective here, Blake." The other girls nodded firmly at Weiss.

Yang, slapped her fist into her open palm. "We need to help her get laid!"

"Absolutely not!" Weiss hissed back, quickly moving to cover Ruby's innocent ears. Said girl sighed at wiggled her way out of her teammates grasp.

"It's a good plan! She'd glowing if we just find the right kind of guy."

"Maybe in your twisted world but Blake is far too normal for such barbaric acts. I propose we go to a play." The sisters both blanched at the idea and vehemently shook their heads.

"Plays are ~boring~ Weiss! We need to do something fun for her."

"Plays are culturally enriching and intellectually stimulating!"

"Yeah, I already said they were boring. No need to prove the point any further."

"How about we just, you know, go to a bookstore or something with Blake?" Yang turned her head to look at her sister as though she had grown two more heads. Ruby shifted nervously at the sudden attention. "…Just…a suggestion…you know…"

"Weiss, when did you infect my sister with your dull ideologies!?" Yang protectively wrapped her arms around her younger pair. Shielding her from the harmful Weiss rays of boredom.

"I'm not boring and besides, I think Ruby's idea is fine." She gave Ruby a proud smile. Thank goodness the younger girl was finally taking after her a bit, she was finally learning how to be a bit proper with her ideas and thoughts. Her hard work of being the perfect role-model was finally paying off it seemed! "That's two against one Yang, bookstore wins." She smiled smugly at Yang's horrified expression.

"Ruby! It's a bookstore! You know what they do there!"

"…Read books?" She slowly replied, brows furrowed in confusion.

"No!" Yang shook her sister vigorously. "They ENJOY books there Ruby! They aren't normal!"

"Enjoying some books would do you well Yang." Weiss interjected calmly, prying her spinning eyed teammate from her sister's grip. "Either way it's settled, we're taking Blake to a bookstore."

"Ugh…fine." Yang acquiesced, she splayed herself onto her bed, stretching her arms out.

They each went to their beds, intent on getting their rest for the coming days.

As Ruby slept, her mind turned to dreams of heroic feats and stories.

Weiss dreamt of proud parents and successful missions.

Yang dreamt of a small red cloaked girl, safe in her arms.

And Blake…

Blake saw fire.

* * *

Huge cranes lifted massive dust crates onto the train, a group of soldiers clad in white vests overlooked the task. Voices shouted through the air, bodies bustled their way past each other, and in the middle of it all, Roman stood watching.

"Um…sir?" Roman moved his gaze towards the young faunus girl who had interrupted his thoughts. "We were just wondering, the first five cars have been completely loaded and the detonators all installed, do we continue?" Roman scoffed at the question, these people never seemed to understand what an order really meant. How the White Fang could operate with such clumsy people was beyond him.

"How many cars did I say to load today?"

"Just the five…"

"How many have you loaded?"

"Five…"

"So how many more do you have to load today?"

"…None?" The young girl shrunk into herself at his annoyed scoff.

"So then you're all done. I don't get how that's difficult to understand. You're all on schedule."

"But we have plenty of time-"

"No, no we don't." Roman swung his cane in lazy circles as he drew out his communicator. "Everyone get away from the train and return to camp. We're done for the night."

Mountain Glenn, the forsaken city of Vale. Roman grimaced as White Fang members poured out from the tunnel and back into the clearing. His own members dotted the group though not quite as numerous.

"…um…"

"What?" He spun to face the young faunus again –this girl was getting on his nerves. "Do you expect me to explain why we're not working past this time?" She shook her head and slinked away, her shoulders slouched.

"Sorry sir." He ignored her pitiful voice and instead focused on the massive tunnel looming before him. If you concentrated hard, you could still hear the sounds of tortured screams, you could feel the fear in the air as children huddled with their parents for one final moment, you could practically smell the blood that lingered here.

It disgusted him.

Neo sidled up next to him and tugged on his jacket. Her eyes peered into his, searching for his distress. Her lips thinned to a grim line and she shook her head when he looked away, back towards the tunnel.

"Grimm will come if we're not careful." He doubted that he had to point that out but the rest of the White Fang didn't seem to be a privy as himself. When Neo nodded and pointed back at the train, Roman just clenched his cane even harder, nearly bending the hand crafted metal. "It's a deathtrap."

She turned her multicolored eyes upon the massive vehicle, old and abandoned but now completely renovated for its new purpose; to bring death. They could very easily die soon, perhaps they wouldn't be able to escape the grimm. Perhaps the explosions would kill them. Perhaps Cinder would afterwards.

Perhaps, a lot of things would happen. She stepped just a bit closer to Roman.

But she trusted Roman.

* * *

 **A/N: That ends chapter 9! So some things have been pushed up, Roman is in Mount Glenn FAR sooner than in the cannon since he doesn't have a bunch of robot suits to move around. To put it to perspective, other teams still haven't met with the foreign delegates from other schools. Team SSSN is still out of the loop.**

 **Tukson will be having one hell of a hard time finding anything about where the White Fang scampered off to since there really isn't anyone left in Vale who could tell him where they went…**

 **Supposedly anyways.**

 **On the topic of aura and the soul. The series just completely glosses over this topic. Like seriously? NO ONE seems to have done any research into it over the years. Other than Penny's creator, no one seems to understand what aura really is or how it works. I assume that this isn't just because people don't care, that would be ridiculous, but because aura and soul research is outlawed in general.**

 **Some food for thought, Roman's put together a general image of what Ozpin, Ironwood, and the councils are doing right now.**

 **What do you think they're doing?**

 **The pieces are all there if a bit jumbled up. Figure it out and you'll get a cookie.**

 **-POLITICAL TALK** **-**

 **Donald Trump secures the nomination with 1239 delegates! Incredible to see happen! He even challenged Bernie Sanders to a pre-California debate! So hype if that really**

 **-END POLITICAL TALK** **-**

 **Next Chapter: June 10**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Chapter 10 is finally finished! Thank you everyone who's been reading along so far! It's been a lot of fun and I'm happy that there are people who actually enjoy reading my work. I will be starting another story shortly so be on the lookout for that.**

 **I am moving jobs again soon so I might have to slow down how fast chapters come out –they're not coming out fast to begin with though so I doubt it should change too much. I'll be working approximately 60 to 70 hours a week so wish me luck!**

 **Hopefully I don't go crazy with all this work.**

* * *

Next Steps

* * *

 _Perhaps the alley way? No, it's too far and they'll catch me before I could find a hiding spot. What about losing them in that store? No, too many obstacles and people there. How about the-_

"Blake!" Yang shouted at her teammate, snapping her fingers rhythmically, vying for attention.

Blake slowly turned to the blond –in her eyes- menace. "What?" She dryly said, ears not even perking up at the sudden intrusion as they normally would have.

"We're trying to ask you if you thought black would be a good color on you!" At that statement, Blake swallowed a scoff and instead spread her arms slightly, gesturing towards her current outfit. She leveled her teammate with a heavy, blank stare and turned in a semi-circle, locking onto the other two members who had dragged her out here into the city.

"…So do you think you look good in it or…?" Ruby quizzically asked, her head cocked in confusion and Blake's strange performance. She looked like a peacock going through its teenage angst phase if she was honest to herself.

Blake sighed and nodded at the young girl. She slowly wondered to herself how it had all come to pass like this; being dragged out into the city for seemingly no reason, being harassed about the upcoming ball, how they had decided to go clothes shopping of all things while the White Fang were nowhere to be found…

Oh wait…

She did know how this all happened.

The reason was quite literally poking her in the face.

"Yang! Stop!" Blake snapped, her teeth nearly separating the slender finger from its equally slender hand. She snarled, only stopping when she felt the finger was finally far enough from her face to not pose an annoyance. Her amber eyes glared daggers at her teammate.

Yang smiled brightly.

"Oh cmon Blake, it was just a detour I wanted to check out. Besides I know you don't have a dress for the dance so I wanted to see if we could find something for you." She chirped, wrapping an arm around the girl.

"I don't need a dress Yang, I'm not even going to the dance. I'm busy." Blake said, squirming out her grip. "Besides, don't all of you need to buy dresses? How about you guys go do that." She suggested, looking for another avenue of escape to continue her currently fruitless search.

Yang shook her head vigorously. "No way Blakey, I've already chosen my outfit, Weiss has a dress I'm certain-" Weiss nodded in agreement, "-and Ruby isn't wearing a dress. She'll be safe in the room where no guys are present."

"Yang! I already told you, I'm not staying in the dorm!"

"Ruby Rose!" Yang turned on her sister, her motherly voice drowning out any voice of dissent. "There will be **boys** there. I absolutely refuse to allow you to-"

"Yang, she's not a child, I'm sure she'll be fine." Blake interrupted, sparing her leader a sympathetic glance. She had seen how…obsessive Yang could get with her sisters chastity and knowing Yang and her party lifestyle –she probably thought Ruby would get laid or something at the dance, ridiculous, they all knew, but so was Yang.

"You don't know that! What if someone asks Ruby to go back to their dorm with them!? What then Blake!?"

"Break their arms?" She suggested hopefully, all while sliding slowly out of the picture. As they bickered, Blake made her way away from the group and to sal-

"Blake you're not getting away." Yang firmly held her wrist and began dragging her back to the group. All of her protests fell onto deaf ears. "And besides, we actually decided to go somewhere we think you would enjoy."

Blake raised an eyebrow and scoffed.

"I'm pretty any place I would like to visit would be dead bottom on your list."

"You don't know-oof!" Yang stumbled backwards at the sudden impact –felt like walking straight into a light pole. When she turned her head upwards she found herself face to face with a brightly dressed girl. The first thing Yang noticed was the smile, practically set in stone and didn't seem to want to budge off the girls face an inch. She slowly got up, dusted herself off, and apologized to the girl. "Sorry about that, I wasn't-"

"Salutations sir or madam!" Yang and the rest of team RWBY recoiled slightly at the loudness of the girl's voice, she pushed forwards though, not paying their obvious discomfort any mind. "I am sorry for my lack of spatial awareness!"

"It's…uh…" Yang had the words in her mind but she had trouble putting them out onto her tongue and into the air. "…fine…" She felt her face contort with confusion when the orange haired girl smiled ever brightly and extended her hand.

"Thank you for accepting my condolences!" Yang hesitantly grabbed the outstretched hand, watching for any extraneous movement in her peripheral vision.

"No probl-"

"Does this make us friends!?" Yang jumped when the girl gripped her hand with surprising force, she doubted it would be easy to escape it without putting in some mean effort. The question itself was…well, she wanted to say harmless but...

"Well, I uh…I mean we're not enemies I guess." Yang replied, twisting her head to look back at her friends, most of whom were at a loss for words at the arrival of the strange girl.

"That is wonderful! This may be the first time I have had a relationship classified specifically as 'not enemies!' Is this a step towards becoming friends?"

Oh god, she was going to regret this answer wasn't she. "Um…yeah I guess." Yang winced when the girl proverbially exploded again.

"Magnificent!" She shouted, before letting go of Yang's hand. "Oh my! I apologize, I haven't even given my name out yet!" The girl quickly stood at attention, raising one hand up at the gathered girls.

"No it's fine, we're goi-" Yang started, trying to seek an avenue of escape.

"I am designated as Penny! What would be yours?" She asked excitedly.

Yang looked back towards her teammates, only to see them gesturing towards her. Bunch of traitors. "…Yang…" She admitted warily.

"That is a wonderful name! Are these your friends?" Penny immediately moved to the other members of the team, face filled with curiosity. Ruby and Weiss cringed slightly at her expectant smile, not knowing what to reply with.

"Yeah, this is Ruby, Weiss, and..." Yang's eyes widened for a moment as she spun around, wildly searching for her sneaky teammate. "-Blake!"

Blake stared back at her blankly, grimace planted firmly on her face still but now exacerbated with a touch of confusion.

"…Yes?"

"Oh…Sorry," Yang laughed and rubbed the back of her head. "I just thought you would have tried to run off by now." She mumbled out. Blake merely raised her left hand, Ruby's fingers firmly gripping hers like a vice.

"Look, can we just get this over with?" Blake's impatience shone through every word. "Wherever you wanted to take me, let's just hurry up."

"Yeah! That sounds good!" Weiss spoke up, hurriedly gathering herself and Ruby, pushing forwards past the girl while offering a quick apology.

"Sorry Penny, we've gotta go now." Yang jumbled out quickly. "We'll uh…see you then." She offered the girl a final departing wave, which was returned with heavy vigor, and ran off to catch up with her friends.

* * *

"Now don't laugh okay."

"I'm already not laughing Yang." Blake replied dryly.

Yang covered Blake's eyes as the other two gripped her arms and pushed her around a corner. Blake squirmed but eventually found herself coming to a stop. "Alright, we're here! Are you ready to be amazed Blake!?"

"No. No, I'm not." She gritted out through clenched teeth. When Yang's hand came uncovered, she prepared herself to spin around, leave a clone, and run as fast as she could back to the bullheads –maybe she could sneak onto one that would take her back to beacon. However, before she could even start her action, amber eyes caught a glimpse of the store's title, her breath got caught in her throat.

"Speechless! I know, I found it myself!" Yang boasted, puffing her ample chest out. She withered a bit when Weiss immediately spoke up after her.

"Actually, we all chose it together."

"Yeah, we thought you would like it since it's kind of small and lesser known. We know you aren't exactly a fan of really crowded places." Ruby added cheerfully, she spread her arms towards the name of the place they had taken her.

 **Tukson's Book Trade**

"Alright, let's go in and see what they have!" Yang grabbed her before she could protest and they gleefully headed into the store, Blake excluded of course. Her brain was still in standby mode as it tried to catch back up to their current situation.

"Hello! Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade, home to every-" Tukson was stopped when a vigorous cough erupted from his lungs, courtesy of seeing Blake being manhandled by a cute blonde. She looked…incredibly unpleased and judging from the bags under her eyes, she hadn't taken his advice to calm it down with her White Fang searching. He quickly straightened his back and spoke again, more clearly this time. "Hey there! Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade, home to every book under the sun!"

"Hey there!" Yang greeted back cheerfully, her smile reaching dangerous levels of brightness. "My friend here's a huge book nerd and I was wondering if you had anything she might be interested in."

 _What the hell…_ Tukson thought to himself. These had to be her teammates from beacon, they certainly looked the part. _Girl in red looks a bit young though and the orange girl is…well they say to never judge a book by its cover…wait…I own a bookstore, if anyone were able to judge a book by its cover it would be me…_

"Well," he cleared his throat and shot one quick glance at Blake –who was incredibly quiet but shooting him the don't-let-them-know-I-know-you look. "I have plenty of books that appeal to younger readers such as yourselves over there in that aisle." He pointed towards the young adult section of his store.

"Sounds perfect!" Yang immediately looked back towards her teammate, catching the flash of her eyes. She leaned in towards the desk, arms crossed under her breasts, pushing them upwards and into attention. "Actually, I also have _another_ question to ask you." Yang's smile turned into a smirk and in that instant Tukson knew what he was dealing with. "Do you _know_ our little Blakey here?"

"No!" All eyes turned to the source of the outburst; the wide eyed Blake.

"Getting reaaaal defensive there aren't you?" Yang said, sashaying her way to her teammate. Yang raised a suggestive eyebrow at the girl.

Blake ignored the eyebrows and narrowed her eyes. "No Yang, I just don't think you should say inappropriate things in front of a stranger." She stressed the word 'stranger' with the gritting of her teeth. This had to be a terrible joke –going to Tukson's bookstore of all places when there were a million other bookstores in the city.

"Blake's mannerisms speak otherwise." Penny added, smiling cheerfully at Yang.

"Thank you Pen-WHAT?" Yang and co spun around to see Penny standing behind them, smile still plastered on her merry face. "Penny!? Why are you here?"

"I thought you said that we needed to go?" She cocked her head to the side and shot Yang an expectant look. Yang opened her mouth to reply but found herself lacking.

 _Yup, called it…Weird._ Tukson snorted internally.

 _This girl is quickly becoming the epitome of socially awkward_ , Yang thought to herself. There wasn't really a streamlined way to deal with a person like this –she could always tell her to leave but she didn't want to be rude to someone they had just met that seemed to have good intention. Slowly a thought bloomed in her mind. Taking shape, Yang realized it fully and began smirking.

Penny sure seemed to be observant…

"Actually, what was that you said about Blake's mannerisms?" Penny had already followed them here and while it was pretty strange, Yang was never one to lose out on an opportunity –an easy ally who could push Blake into a neat little corner till she spilled her secrets.

"Blake has flicked her head towards Tukson precisely 14 times since entering the store and while I can't see her eyes from this angle, I would assume she has flicked those towards him several more times. On top of this is Blake's body language towards the store in general. When seeing the store's logo, Blake's posture stiffened immediately, indicating-"

"Alright! That's enough Penny!" Blake shrilled, immediately clasping a hand over the girls mouth and moving towards the young adult section of the store. "Let's go check out some books!"

"Oh fantastic! Does this mean we're friends?"

"Yes! Just stop talking for now please!" Penny zipped her lips and followed her newfound friend towards the aisle.

As they went off on their own, Yang turned back to Tukson and locked eyes with him. To his credit, he didn't even flinch at the attention. Sure, she was pretty, but she was also a kid in his eyes, naïve to everything the world would throw at her in the coming days. Though her age wasn't really to blame for that, after all, Blake couldn't really be classified as a kid despite probably being the same age.

"So, do you know Blake or not?" She narrowed her eyes and leaned in once more, edging him for a satisfactory answer. She was certain at this point that they knew each other in some way and she had to know. She was her teammate after all!

Tukson mulled over his options, eyes flicking to the gathered soiree in his store; Blake and Penny were…standing and staring at each other, the white haired girl was flicking through a novel, and the short one in the red hood was reading a comic book. He could always keep up the lie but at this point the girl probably wouldn't believe any kind of lie that left his lips.

He let his eyes linger for a moment longer on the orange haired girl, Penny.

She wasn't just strange.

Something about her, he couldn't place his finger on, but it was off putting.

"So is that a yes or…?" He snapped back to attention and faced her once more.

"I've met her before, yes." He answered slowly, letting the answer ruminate in her mind. Apparently Yang didn't want to ruminate though, hands slamming on the table, sending several papers flying.

"So you're dating!"

"…" _What?_ He blanched in his mind, hoping he had heard wrong. But heard correctly he had and an answer he had to give. "I'm easily in my twenties kid…"

"Yeah, and? That's not a 'no'." She sang, eyes boring into him with teenage intensity. Underneath the mirth though, Tukson could see a layer of worry and caution –it was nice to know that Blake had teammates that cared about her. Now if only he could get her to stop putting herself into dangerous situations.

"She came into the shop once to buy a book." He answered succinctly, bending down to pick up the haphazardly thrown papers. Her gaze on him didn't falter.

"Why was she so defensive about knowing you?" Yang dropped the pretenses, eyes hardening like steel and boring holes into his face. It should have been pretty terrifying, knowing that this little teenage brat could probably tear him apart in a fight, but he had probably seen more people die than this kid had personally met in her entire life so he wasn't exactly phased.

So he just sighed, placed his hands right across from hers on the table, and matched her gaze with a tired one of his own.

"You tease her a lot don't you?" He asked simply. Yang furrowed her brow at the question, the gears of her mind turning at the sudden question.

"That doesn't answer my question." She replied quickly, eager to get back on track.

"It will soon," he promised, "but you do tease her a bit don't you?"

"I…I guess. Why? What's that have to do with anything?" Her accusatory tone made him want to go back out there on his search for the White Fang.

"I'm saying that she was probably just embarrassed knowing that you would say something strange if you knew about us meeting beforehand." Tukson explained simply, eyes closed and fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. "She's a shy kid, but I'm sure you know that already."

Yang bit her lip and clenched her hands as she thought on his statement. It was probably true, Tukson's reasoning was pretty solid, but something about the way Blake looked at him rubbed her the wrong way. It was obvious Blake knew Tukson in some way and Tukson had confirmed it…but something about this felt off to her.

She didn't think they were dating –despite her teasing, she doubted he was Blake's style. No, but they clearly knew more about each other than regular bookstore buddies did. Her immediate stiffness at seeing him and her desire to keep him quiet were clear signs.

She would have to talk to Blake seriously later tonight when she had the chance.

"I guess that makes sense." She conceded, though she didn't really believe for a second. She nodded to herself and took her hands off the table, giving the two of them some breathing room.

* * *

"New friend Blake, are these what you would describe as 'pornographic novels'?"

"Penny! Put those down immediately!" Blake shrieked as Penny began to repeat paragraphs of graphic text.

"Oh my, do most males have genitalia described as such? The largest I was shown was during my lessons on human sexual-" She couldn't finish her statement due to the hand covering her mouth.

Blake's exhausted, slumped shoulders rose with her exasperated sigh.

"Don't say things like that aloud Penny, it's not normal at all."

"Oh, I will add that to my current repertoire of knowledge. Do not speak specifically of male sexual organs and their largeness."

"Don't speak about any sexual organs Penny."

"Very well friend Blake."

 _What the hell is wrong with this girl…?_ Blake thought to herself as she absentmindedly flipped through a random book. Penny's constant smile was bad enough but she acted like this was her first time ever interacting with people –her…clinginess and complete ignorance were worrisome, though slightly better than being back there with Yang. _It's bad enough I've got Yang breathing down my neck about not relaxing enough, don't want overly attached Penny to start on me._

A couple of seconds ticked by, the only noise being Yang and Tukson conversing back at the counter, she couldn't hear them but she could imagine their conversation; probably Yang making a bunch of baseless accusations, how Tukson would reply was out of her scope though.

Speaking of Tukson, she hadn't received any new information about the White Fang from him recently which was worrying –it was getting harder and harder to trust him at all with each passing day he didn't have something for her. She was itching to go out there again and start searching in earnest herself since he wasn't doing his job quite as well as he purported to her. Though she would have to be more careful from now on –her team was getting overly worried about her and this most recent attempt at getting her to relax was just their poor attempt at finding a solution.

She couldn't afford to get them involved either, not with Adam possibly running around.

"Friend Blake." She turned around to see Penny staring at her, smile still plastered on her face. "What is bothering you?"

"I'm fine Penny." She replied blankly. Oh God, she didn't want or need the human answering machine to start on her now too.

"Are you jealous that Yang is talking to your not-boyfriend Tukson?"

Oh for the love of…Blake sighed and turned to face the girl in full. Blake plastered a fake smile on her face and shook her head, hoping that the silent answer would suffice.

"I see, than what is it that's bothering you?"

"Nothing Penny, I'm fine." She gritted out through clenched teeth, trying her best to keep a smile on her face.

Penny's smile faltered for a moment, unsure of how to respond to Blake's mannerisms. She was clearly in distress but did not seem interested in solving whatever problem she might have been plagued with. It was at odds with everything her father had imparted to her through the books on human psychology. She gripped her book a bit harder –though for a being like her, 'a bit harder' made the book crumple like tin foil.

"Is there nothing I can do to help you Blake? I would like to help my first friend." She said timidly, smile back on her lips, though not as bright.

Blake paused in her rebuttal, a feeling of regret worming its way into her heart. _First friend huh…_ Blake thought, the words piercing dangerously close to her heart. She could remember the first friend she ever had –though he was also her brother, mentor, and comrade all in one. Blake shook her head of these thoughts though, returning to the present. As her eyes wandered over Penny she bit her lip and began thinking to herself, allowing seconds to tick by –Penny didn't interrupt her thoughts.

 _First friend…where the hell did this girl come from?_ The thoughts bounced around in her head. _But I can't really just ask her to help me find an extreme activist group._

"Penny," Blake finally sighed, breaking the silence with a heave and closed eyes, "thanks but there's really nothing you can do to help me. Sometimes, people just need to do things on their own." Blake put a hand on the girls shoulder and squeezed –the girl had a surprising amount of muscle with how sturdy she felt.

Penny nodded, not truly understanding Blake's reasoning but at least comprehending that it was time to stop bothering Blake with her constant doting.

She still wanted to help her though…

Penny peered over a couple of aisles and say two more figures silently watching them from afar.

Maybe she couldn't help Blake…

But perhaps her teammates could.

* * *

"The Vytal Festival is a huge show of skill and prowess, schools from every nation will be sending their best students to compete."

"…Best…students? Is there anyway a team can compete with three people instead of four?"

"…No Jaune…" Pyrrha sighed at his question, hand reaching up to grab his shoulder, squeezing tightly. He was always like this when it came to proving himself –it had certainly gotten better ever since the incident with Cardin but that wasn't saying much. "You're our leader, you need to be there with us."

"These are the best teams in the world Pyrrha, how am I supposed to keep up with them at all?" Was she crazy or something? He might be able to hold his own against some students now, but these guys were all going to be highly skilled fighters –he had been training for literally one semester so far. He hung his head and crossed his arms tightly.

"Well the Vytal festival is still some time away, you can prepare until then Jaune." Ren said, placing a hand on the blond leaders shoulder. "Besides, we have something a bit more urgent to discuss." They turned to Ren with questioning looks –Nora excluded of course. "We have our first mission coming up."

At that announcement, team JNPR tensed slightly. Their first mission. All had different reactions; Nora whooped loudly and began loudly proclaiming her desire to do hunter things, Pyrrha was more reserved and pondered what mission they would take on, Jaune nervously rubbed his hands together, wondering what kind of danger they would find themselves in. Ren opened his mouth slightly, ready to speak his mind, but shut it once more –finding himself unsure of what to say.

Nora glanced in his direction for an instant.

"Actually," she quickly wrapped her arm around Jaune and pulled his face next to hers, "I was hoping we could pick a mission outside of the city." She requested, grin plastered on her face.

"Ye-Yeah…I don't see why not." Jaune choked out, hands reaching up and prying Nora's forearm from his throat. As he struggled against her surprisingly powerful limbs, Jaune took a quick glance at the other male teammate on team JNPR –Ren had a relieved smile on his face. Jaune wasn't exactly the sharpest lightbulb in the room but even he could tell that Ren wanted to check something outside the city. Why he was so hesitant in asking that Nora had to do it for him, Jaune had no clue, but he was certain Ren had his reason so he didn't push it.

Jaune eventually escaped Nora's grip -Pyrrha ended up having to help him with that- and the team continued walking down the road, pedestrians bustling around them. The city of Vale was awash with the colors of fall -vibrant banners filled the streets, advertising the upcoming Vytal festival and other noteworthy events. Jaune tried his best to immerse himself into the minor conversations Pyrrha brought up. It wasn't that he wasn't interested –he absolutely was- but it was that every time he tried to focus on the present his mind would slowly steer itself back towards the future, specifically Roman. Jaune wouldn't say the he and Roman were in any way friendly with each other but he had grown use to the consistency that was Roman Torchwick. The constant beat downs and verbal abuse, while objectively terrible and pretty cruel, weren't all that bad when he thought about it.

It helped him beat up Cardin didn't it?

Hell, he was doing far better in sparring classes now, having netted a couple of victories in the past few days.

Jaune grinned at something Nora did to make the rest of his team laugh, he had no clue what it was but if it got Ren to laugh it was probably somewhat humorous.

But Jaune knew that this wouldn't last forever. Good things never lasted as long as he wanted them to.

"Jaune, do you think we should start heading bac-" Pyrrha was interrupted when someone blasted past her, shoulder clipping hers. "Oof!" She stumbled forwards but stayed standing, quickly spinning to spot whoever had ran into her, hoping they hadn't hurt themselves –running into an huntress in training with aura reserves like hers probably felt like running into a brick wall after all. Instead of an injured civilian though, Pyrrha found herself staring into the eyes of a surprised faunus. "Are you alrig-"

The blond teen rose up and placed a finger on her lips, winking at her quickly. "I'm good beautiful, but I'm gonna have to split now. See ya!" The monkey faunus –the tail gave it away pretty easily- ran off quickly, darting between people and into an alleyway. Team JNPR stood there in silent shock, unsure of what to do. Jaune bit his lip in annoyance.

"Hey! Stop right there criminal scum!" A voice shouted from behind them. They turned to find a police officer, slightly overweight, breathing heavily as he slow jogged his way towards them. As he reached them he bent down and took deep, heavy breaths. Slowly he gathered himself together and spoke. "You see where that yellow haired faunus ran off to?"

"Down one of the alleyways…Why?" Jaune answered and asked. Was that guy a criminal? Were they supposed to help the local law enforcement now as well? He wasn't exactly too sure about that to be honest. "What did he do?"

"He's a stowaway!" He said between harsh breaths, chest rising and falling crazier than the late Roman empire.

"You want us to help you catch him?" Jaune offered, nodding with the rest of his team. While catching petty criminals wasn't exactly something important to them individually, it wasn't like they had any other real plans for the day.

He also had an strange urge to tear the guy's index finger off.

"Sorry kids, but this-" he took another deep breath and wiped sweat off his brow. "-is an officer's job, thanks though."

"We're hunters in training from Beacon, we could probably catch him pretty fast." Ren clarified. "It is our duty to-"

"Well why didn't y'all say so before!" He wheezed his words out and waved a hand towards them dismissively. "Go get him hunters!" He took a seat on the curb, still swallowing heavy breaths.

Team JNPR all gave him a pitying glance, even Jaune felt bad for him, before running off.

"How are we gonna catch him by the way?" Pyrrha voiced her concerns. While she was all for helping local law enforcement, the monkey faunus could be literally anywhere in the city now. They weren't exactly going to just run into him ag-

"Woah! Out the way please! Sorry! Man with a baby coming through!" A blond mane appeared from the crowd and jumped up, hands climbing up a light pole, dragging the rest of the body behind it. From the top of the light pole the figure flipped onto the roof of one of the buildings.

"…" Jaune pointed towards the light pole the figure had just jumped off of. "I guess we follow him?"

"Probably."

"…"

"Go team go!"

Team JNPR ran through the alley ways, chasing down the nimble navigator. As they leapt across roofs, the figure came back into view, now on the streets, running through a crowd of people. He rounded into another alleyway when he was them chasing him.

"Pyrrha! Shield throw!"

"On it!" Pyrrha took aim for a slight moment before she chucked her shield into the alleyway, bouncing it meticulously off the wall and into the criminals back, stumbling him.

"Nora, pin him down!" When Nora reached for her grenade launcher Jaune quickly amended his command. "With your hands! Me and Ren will help!"

"Aw man…" She muttered, putting her hand held artillery canon away.

"Ow! Hey that's not very paragon! Woah, hands off that location man!" They struggled for a moment before they finally had him pinned. Jaune got a better look at the running man –though from what he could tell, man was probably the wrong term to use, he looked roughly the same age as the rest of them.

They took some deep breaths before finally speaking. "So, you wanna explain why the authorities are chasing you down?" Jaune asked with faux confidence. Technically he was just as criminal so he didn't really have the right to be saying something like that.

"Urgh…" He struggled against Nora's grip for a moment. "I was just messing with them a bit." He said, looking at them ruefully. "So can you let me go now or…"

"We have to turn you into the authorities you know. We can't just let you go." Pyrrha sighed, collecting her shield, placing it onto her back once more.

"Hey, it's little miss beautiful again! Cmon, be dea-URK!" He stopped speaking when Jaune twisted the arm he was holding just a bit more than necessary. "Alright alright! Look I didn't break any laws alright!"

"I heard you were a stowaway." Ren stated, completely unconvinced.

"Stowaway is a bit of a mean way to put it. I prefer unknown passenger." No one smiled. "I'm here for the Vytal festival!" He finally said, though it didn't seem to really help his case as no one seemed convinced. Even Nora wasn't buying what he was selling, and she once apparently bought two tons of maple syrup for Ren's pancakes. "I'm from Haven!" Still no buyers.

"Alright," Jaune announced loudly, standing the faunus onto his feet with Ren's and Nora's assistance, "let's get him to the authorities."

"Wait!" He shouted, kicking slightly with his feet. "I have weapons to prove it!"

"How would that ever help your case?" Pyrrha asked, legitimately confused at the reasoning. Weapons would just make them treat him as more of a danger so why would he announce something like that? She leaned towards Jaune, whispering loud enough for the captured teen to hear. "Maybe we should take him to the hospital first, my shield throw might have been…damaging."

"Woah! I don't need any medical attention! I'm just saying that I'm a hunter in training!"

Jaune stopped moving and shared a look with his teammates, not entirely sure of what to do. It was eventually Ren who spoke up with a solution however.

"How about you show us your Haven ID?" He recommended. Every student was required to have an identification card signifying from which school they hailed. If he was really a student from Haven, he would have one on him.

"…I uh…might have left it behind with my teammates."

Team JNPR then proceeded out the alleyway and to the local law enforcement building. Handing over the minor criminal, they received equally minor praise and headed back to Beacon for dinner. Or at least that's what could have happened the teens scroll hadn't started ringing.

"That's my teammates probably! You can ask them!" He said, kicking his feet around.

"Pyrrha, can you answer it for us?" Jaune asked warily reaching into the teens pocket, fishing out the piece of technology. She answered it hesitantly and put the speaker up to her ear.

"Hello?"

"…Sun? Is that you? Why do you sound so…weird?"

"May I ask who is calling?"

"Neptune. Who's this?"

"I am Pyrrha Nikos-"

"Woah! Like THE Pyrrha Nikos? Champion from-" Pyrrha sighed, holding the phone away from her ear for a moment, waiting for the chatter to die down. She looked at Jaune who shot her a quizzical look –Pyrrha just shrugged though and pointed at the phone. Eventually when the noise died, she put the scroll back up to her ear.

"Yes, I am Pyrrha Nikos. Are you from Haven?"

"Ye-Yeah! I was just calling my friend Sun. The idiot left before any of us did and well…" She could practically feel him slouching. "…well who knows what kind of trouble he got himself into." Pyrrha readied herself to explain the whole situation when Neptune asked another question. "By the way, why do you have Sun's scroll? Did he lose his scroll again? Wait…"

"Your friend bro-"

"Are you _with_ him right now? Is this a bad time to be calling? Am I interrupting an _activity_?"

Pyrrha flushed red at the implication and hastily began throwing denials into the air. "No! Absolutely not! He broke the law and we're just holding him down right now, trying to determine whether or not he's actually from Haven!" She rushed out as fast as she could, hoping that no one had heard Neptune's words.

"…He broke the law?"

"Yes!"

"Let me guess, he left his ID card back here with us?"

"That's what he said."

"Alright then, hold on…" She heard some shuffling in the background and brought the scroll in front of her curiously. Suddenly the screen flashed to life, showing the image of a blond teen, smirking into the camera, placed on a plastic card. The words 'Haven Academy for Hunters' ran across the top of the card in bold, black ink. It was an official identification card for students of Haven academy.

"Well?" She heard the newly christened Sun speak behind her. She turned to face him and showed what was on the screen to the rest of her team.

"I guess Sun," she waved a hand towards the captured teen, "wasn't lying."

"See!" Pyrrha ignored him and brought the scroll back up to her face.

"So are you his teammate?"

"Yes…Please don't arrest the idiot. I know he's dumb but he's also my leader."

"He's broke the law." Surprisingly, it wasn't Neptune or Sun who answered but Ren instead.

"Technically hunters and hunters in training are exempt from most transportation laws, allowing them to use any transportation method available to get to any place in Remnant. It's what allows hunters to operate so freely across the countries. So Sun hasn't really broken any laws since those that are in place don't apply to him." Ren announced, though he still held Sun firmly with Jaune.

"So he should be free to go?" Jaune asked his friend, ignoring the cries emanating between them.

"Yes." The looked at each other and then back at Sun, who gave them rueful looks. Ren nodded at Jaune who reciprocated, after a quick count to three they released him completely. Sun rubbed his sore arms and shot them glares.

"Jeez, you Vale guys go hard don't you?"

"We don't appreciate crime." Jaune said –he had to stop himself from choking on the sheer hubris of his words.

"Ah, but I didn't commit a crime now did I!?" He exclaimed loudly, proud smile stretching across his face. Jeez, he hoped that not everyone was so…strict and proper here in Vale. He was hoping that Beacon would have some cool people to chill with but so far it wasn't really delivering.

"So why are you here?" Jaune asked.

"Honestly, just kind of wanted to scout out what the people here were like. Havens a bit of a free style place you know, wanted to know if Beacon was anything like it." He said honestly as they walked back down the street.

"If you'd like, we could take you to Beacon." Ren offered.

"Weren't you guys trying to get me arrested like ten seconds ago?"

"That was when we thought you were a criminal though, completely different situation now."

"Really? You guys just change opinions that fast?"

"Yeah, I guess we do." Jaune said, laughing lightly. He really did want to arrest him though…and possibly take that finger off.

'Well I just kind of wanted to see more of the city first, you know." Team JNPR shared another look and turned back to him unanimously. Sun recoiled slightly at the mass attention. "Wh-What?"

"You're not going to cause more trouble, are you?" Jaune asked, lips stretched into a thin line.

"What? No! Jeez, could you trust a fellow hunter in training a bit. Cmon guys, I'm not that bad."

"Your teammate Neptune implied otherwise." Pyrrha laughed when he sputtered out several excuses and accusations of ungrateful teammates.

Eventually the laughter went away and as they walked down the streets, getting closer and closer to the bullheads, Sun decided to pose another question.

"So, you guys wanna hang out in the city with me? I could use some guides."

Jaune thought about it for a moment –they had already spent a significant amount of time in the city and he was kind of looking forwards to getting back to the dorm room, but at the same time he didn't want to just abandon Sun to his own devices. His team did look a bit tired though and-

"Well how about just you then?" Sun elbowed Pyrrha lightly in the side, prompting her to jump a bit. He grinned at her, pearly white teeth flashing. Pyrrha laughed nervously and put her hands up, unsure of how to dismiss the idea. Lucky for her, Jaune decided to help her with that.

"I can show you around the city." He rushed out, stepping in between the two of them suddenly. Sun stepped back in surprise but grinned just as widely. He wrapped an arm around Jaune and shook him slightly.

"Hey now! That's the spirit!"

Jaune turned his head, struggling to get out of another death grip. "The rest of you can head back to the dorm. I'll catch up after we're done!" Jaune shouted at his team as he and Sun walked away from them, into another crowd of people.

"We'll see you there Jaune!" Pyrrha replied, a smile filled with relief filling her face. She ignored the red on her cheeks.

Team JNPR got onto the Bullhead and flew off towards the school.

Jaune and Sun walked through the city, ready to see the sights.

* * *

"But Neptune's kind of a pansy when it comes to water you know." Sun regaled Jaune with another story of his team. Laughter filled the street that they walked down, bright smiles on both of the leaders' faces.

"Why's his name Neptune again?"

"That's what I'm saying!"

Jaune laughed again, impressed with how fast Sun had turned the awkward situation around. They had done a complete 180 from the initial encounter and had become fast friends in just a half hour. Sun started with some questions about his team and it just spiraled from there into stories and tales about their teams, friends, and past. Sun took a deep breath after a particularly long bout of laughter and shot Jaune a sly smirk this time.

"So, when do you plan on asking her out?" Jaune fell flat on his face when the question registered in his mind –good thing aura was automatic.

"A-Asking who out?" He sputtered out, hands dusting off his clothes quickly.

"C'mon man, you gotta give me more credit than that." Sun helped brush some lingering dust and pulled Jaune close, into whisper distance. "You like Pyrrha don't you?"

"What!" Jaune opened his eyes wide and threw his hands in front of his body as a meager defense. "No! That's not even-She's just-I don't even-"

"Wow…" Sun stepped back and gave Jaune the most sarcastic slow clap he could manage. "And the Emmy goes to…" He shook his head before going back to his newfound friend. At the very least he needed to give Jaune some kind of assistance for this endeavor, after all, that's what bros were for. "You gotta make a move on her soon man."

"I don't even know what you're talking about!" This was preposterous! He and Pyrrha were friends and that was that. Aside from some additional training, they didn't really talk all that much to each other. Except during breakfast, lunch, and dinner…Or when they studied in the library together...Or when they went to Vale together…Or when they took their daily walks in the greenhouse…

Ok so they did spend a significant amount of time together but they were teammates, it was pretty much expected.

Just because he spent a lot of time with her didn't mean anything.

"How about you just ask her out?" Sun asked honestly, not seeing the issue Jaune apparently saw.

"I'm not into her like that!"

Sun sighed. This always happened with guys who lacked self-confidence. Always denying how they felt, content to be the side man until some miracle happened –which would never come. He couldn't allow someone to fall into that trap when he was right there to help them.

"Really?" He asked, squaring his shoulders and standing upright, looking Jaune dead in the eye.

"Yes!"

"You're completely sure about your feelings?"

"Absolutely one hundred percent."

"I see…"

"…Yes…You see…" Jaune didn't like the smirk at all.

"So you won't mind me asking her out then?"

 _Bingo._ Sun thought to himself smugly as Jaune stopped dead in the streets. He smiled at him and raised an eyebrow.

"What's wrong man?" He put his hands behind his head and stretched languidly, his voice filled with mirth. "You should be cool with that. After all, you don't like her right?" He took Jaune's narrowed eyes and clenched jaw as good signs. "Why not let someone else take a shot?"

"…"

"Well?" He asked expectantly.

"…"

"Sorry about that man, couldn't hear you."

"She's…ble…"

"What? Say it a bit more clea-"

"She's not available!" Sun laughed at the outburst, doubling over at Jaune's angry expression. He was so innocent and pure –he didn't think he would find a treat like this out here in Vale but here it was.

"Why not, she's not taken, right?"

She's just not!" Jaune growled, hiding his red face in his arm. God damn Sun, asking weird questions. He and Pyrrha were just good friends and he didn't want someone like Sun to be with her. Sun was weird!

Right.

That was exactly it.

No other motives involved.

Sun threw an arm around his new found friend, dragging him down the street to see more sights. Vale was definitely different from his Mistral. So much consumer technology and a curious urban feel –it certainly brought some truth to the term 'concrete jungle'. They crossed several streets -some with peculiar names like Corvix Street- and, as Sun humorously noted, a shit ton of coffee shops and bookstores.

"Jaune?" A curious voice sounded in front of them. Said teen looked up to see silver eyes staring back into his blue pair.

"Ruby? Hey, what's up?" He cheerfully asked, removing himself from another one of Sun's headlocks. He was starting to get worried that his neck would have permanent damage with how often people did that to him.

Ruby beamed back at the fellow leader and gestured to the rest of her team and Penny.

"We're just hanging out in the city, what are you doing out here?" Ruby then pointed to his companion, who was smiling brightly at…Blake? Weird… "Sooooo, who's your new friend?"

"This is Sun." Jaune plainly introduced, smile absent from his face, still seething slightly over the earlier events. He jabbed his thumb towards him, directing all attention towards the newly introduced blonde, who chose to grin brightly at the group and elbow Jaune lightly in the ribs.

"Jaune," he said in a sing-song voice, "you never told me that you were friends with so many pretty girls." Though really, only one of them was catching his full attention –she was also the one who was least impressed with his physique, having seen more than enough ripped bodies during her tenure as a White Fang member. Unabated however, Sun moved in on the beautiful brunette. "So, what's your name beautiful?" He let the words flow easily from his mouth, like syrup dripping off a spoon, they were sweet and slow.

They were also completely ineffective.

Instead of answering, Blake Belladonna decided that after having been forced to deal with the bookstore, Penny, and her teammates doting attitudes, she was officially done for the day. Her brain clocked out early and left the rest of the work to the janitor.

"Blake."

Sun's suave attitude stumbled at the direct and decidedly bored answer the girl gave. He quickly recovered and began his pursuit anew, this time deciding to lay off the flirty attitude, she didn't seem particularly interested in that kind of game.

"Oh, well I'm Sun."

"Jaune already introduced you." She quickly replied, she grabbed Penny's hand began moving forwards once again, prompting the rest of the gathered group to follow along. Jaune shot Sun a sorry glance as he continued his courting attempt.

"Oh yeah, sorry. So what were you girls doing in the city?"

"We went to a bookstore."

"Oh, what kind of books do you like?"

"All sorts."

"Any particular works?"

"She likes Ninjas of Love!" Yang shouted from behind them, flashing Sun a thumbs up before returning to her own conversation with Jaune and the rest of team Ruby.

"…"

They stared blankly at each other, one grinning and the other with a dead expression.

"So, Ninjas of Love?" While he wasn't exactly an avid reader of books –okay so he really didn't like reading but whatever- even he knew that Ninjas of Love was supposed to amount to written porn. She didn't exactly seem like the type to enjoy fiction like-

"Yeah, I said 'all sorts', didn't I?" Blake answered, battling his smirk with thinned lips.

Sun laughed at her answer, not every day you found a girl willing to so openly talk about her choice of written erotica stories. It was a bit strange but then again, so was he. The most interesting part about her though was still unconfirmed however and he felt like it was time to start on that topic.

"So, the bow is cute."

"…" No answer was pretty much expected so Sun didn't really trip over it.

"Where did you get it from?"

"An old friend." Blake said through grit teeth, her eyes narrowing slightly. She didn't feel like going down this path at all right now and Sun was really it with these kinds of questions. Lucky for her, Sun wasn't blind.

"Ah, alright then, is there anything you want to talk about?" Good Lord, he didn't think it would be that touchy of a subject -the anger was so palpable and even the group behind them could feel it. If Blake didn't want to talk about it then he wouldn't push the issue, while he would love to get to know her better, tonight just didn't seem like the proper night, with her being all gloomy and mad.

"I'd rather just walk in silence right now Sun." She sighed when she was his downcast expression, though he quickly hid it with another grin. God, she was kind of being rude to someone they had just met –regardless of how bad of a day she'd been having it wasn't really much of an excuse to be so off putting. So Blake turned fully to him and sighed heavily. "I'm sorry if I'm being flippant. I'm just not feeling very well right now."

Sun felt his lips stretch into a wide smile, he quickly thanked whatever God was out there that she wasn't just completely uninterested in him. "Hey, it's no problem, we all have days like that. Maybe we can hang out some other time?" He pulled out his scroll. "If you want of course."

Blake hesitated for a moment before pulling her own scroll out and handing it over to him while taking his into her own hands. She quickly typed in her information, doubting that she would ever really take that offer up again any time soon. Sun did the same, though he had a differing opinion.

Suddenly they found themselves standing in front of the bullheads again, pilots waiting on them dutifully. Team RWBY, Jaune, and Sun all got on, however Penny stayed behind, waving at them happily. Blake bit her lip and called out to her.

"Penny, aren't you coming to Beacon?" The quirky girl shook her head as she continued waving.

"I must meet up with my team first, I will be joining you later however! I look forwards to seeing you again friend Blake!" She paused for a moment before addressing the rest of them. "I look forwards to seeing you again too Ruby, Weiss, Yang, Jaune, and Sun!" The last two cast curious looks to the other girls, asking the silent question of who Penny even was. They didn't receive any answers.

As the Bullhead began starting up Blake bit her lip as she saw Penny's happy smile. She was…a moron to be frank but she was also really nice. Also innocent beyond belief and apparently also ignorant of what people were like for the most part. Basically, Blake didn't know if Penny would be fine in the city completely alone.

She couldn't exactly go with her though to her team…

…

…

She did have a scroll though.

No, there was a better way. Probably. Hopefully. Maybe she could...

"Alright, we're in the air in 60 seconds ladies and gentlemen, say your final goodbyes now!" The pilot shouted to his passengers.

Blake internally screamed at herself as she opened her mouth.

"Penny! Come over here real quick!" She fished out her scroll quickly, nearly dropping it in the process. "What's your scroll number? Log it in here! If you get into any…trouble, just call me!" She shouted through the loudness of the roaring engines. Penny looked ecstatic as she punched in her information, almost literally with how enthusiastic she pressed those virtual buttons.

"Thank you friend Blake! I'll be sure to contact you if anything happens." Penny graciously replied before stepping back and away from the rising bullhead. As they rose into the air and the doors closed, Penny smiled the same smile she always had.

The same one she was born with.

* * *

"Wow Blake, that was brave…" Yang said, watching Blake's scroll with hawkish eyes. It would happen any moment now…She knew it would.

"What are you talking about now Yang?" An exasperated Blake replied as she sent Penny a simple hello message. Hopefully Penny at least understood how to use the basic functions of a scroll and would know how to record her number from a text message.

"Giving your number to Penny of all people?"

Blake rolled her eyes. "She's not that bad." Okay so maybe she was kind of weird…but really weren't they all a bit weird!?

"She refers to you as 'friend Blake'…Just give it some time, she's going to explode your scroll. Explode." Yang said, pantomiming an explosion to her teammate, arms splaying wide into the air.

"Stop exaggerating Yang, just because she's…inexperienced with people doesn't mean she'll do something drastic or abnormal."

"She calls you 'FRIEND BLAKE'." Yang reiterated strongly. "She's nice, don't get me wrong, but something about her seems a bit off."

"Well, I can agree on that I suppose." Blake conceded, leaning against the seat and turning her head to look out the window. Vale was certainly beautiful at night, looking at it from the night sky. Buildings were alit, even at this time, casting a glow onto each other. Streetlamps washed the streets with yellow light, illuminating the pathway for everyone, from simple civilians to vagrants to law enforcement alike.

But the CCTS Tower stood at the center of it all, still bustling with life from the multitude of people making calls, sending pictures, uploading videos, and other multimedia adventures. The tower cast its light across the city, bright and vibrant –though not blindingly so- close at its base while petering off to a dim glow as one slowly left it.

Blake wondered to herself as she stared at the city.

 _Where the hell are they hiding?_

* * *

Engineering.

Dust.

Biology.

Aura.

For a man such as himself, these topics were just a few of the many different fields he had come to master in his days as a scientist and researcher.

And sitting before him, was his life's work and achievement.

Beautiful she was in his eyes, never able to age and never able to die –a perfect being. A being made by his own hands, conceptualized within the confines of his great mind.

He pressed his thumb against the side of her neck, the back of her head consequently opened up, showing him the genius inside.

The brain now belonging to Penny Polendina.

"How was your first day outside my dear?"

"It was nice father, I met many different people." He smiled at her response, just her first time outside and she was already learning so much -her speech was far less strict and tempered, having a more natural cadence to it.

"Oh, what kinds of people did you meet?" He asked as he hooked her up to a large computer, a visual feed emerged on the screen. He flicked through it quickly, skipping many of the useless events such as her standing in one location for approximately three hours. Finally he found one, filled with several other girls, most seemed to be her age.

They seemed to be huntresses.

"They were nice people, one of them said we were friends!" Penny excitedly said.

He frowned at that.

"Friends? Did you say anything about your…'unique' qualities?" He quickly flicked through the memories, searching for one with shocked expressions or other strange happenings.

"No, you expressly forbid me of talking about that, am I correct?" He sighed in relief.

"Yes Penny, I did. Good job keeping it a secret." He hadn't exactly been completely confident that Penny wouldn't just speak carelessly of her condition, but he knew that Penny didn't exactly have a grasp on the concept of lying yet, so her word was basically the gold standard for the moment.

He would still sift through her memories to make sure of course.

He was her father after all.

"Well Penny, I think it's time for you to rest for the night." The girl smiled cheerfully at him as he typed on his keyboard, inputting commands for her to shut down for the night.

Penny spoke up suddenly though, causing him to pause. "Father, am I human like them?" She asked directly.

"Of course you are, just with some extra features." He reassured her as he finished typing in the commands. He made his way to her and held her hand tightly, gripping the cold flesh.

She smiled at his answer, content with it.

"Good night father."

He smiled back at her.

"Good night Penny."

And with that, he shut her off, allowing her some respite from the day as the computer sorted through her memories, intelligently picking what it deemed as important to view.

Penny's father left the room, shutting the lights off in ritual –Penny cared little if the lights were on or off when she 'rested'.

He entered another room then, this one blindingly white, its walls bleached like bone. In the center was a curtain which hung in a circle, surrounding a darkened figure. As he pulled the curtain back to look down on the figure lying down on the operating table, he thought to himself…

 _What a horrid expression._

* * *

 **A/N: So that ends chapter 10! This one was pretty long and took some time to write! The teams are now starting to discuss what kind of missions they want to go on which means mountain glenn is coming up soon! With that, the dance will be coming up soon as well and then finally the vytal festival.**

 **So, another thing that bothered me in the series was Penny. I'm sure it'll become a major plot point though so I'm not particularly worried about it; but, the technology to make Penny should be so far outside of their scope that it's almost unfathomable.**

 **The RWBY universe has robots sure, but nothing they've shown compares to the sheer complexity required to create a fully functioning, sapient, and sentient human being. To put it into perspective, the world's MOST POWERFUL supercomputer was recently able to simulate exactly one second of brain activity…**

 **It took it 40 MINUTES TO SIMULATE IT ENTIRELY.**

 **This is a computer that has over 700,000 processor cores, 1.4 million GB of RAM and it took 40 MINUTES to simulate just one second of brain activity.**

 **For some easy math, this means that Penny Polendina is currently stronger/faster than one of the worlds strongest supercomputers by a factor of 2400. This is also grossly simplifying the issue.**

 **RWBY-verse is hilarious if they expect me to believe that someone in this universe just made a supercomputer capable of handling that level of information and activity and somehow miniaturized it to the size of a human brain.**

 **So I'm going down a very different route with Penny. An equally unbelievable one, but one that at least matches their tech level.**

 **I know, it's a fictional story and I need to take it with a grain of salt but I don't like it when something happens that shouldn't be possible within the confines of said story. Suppose you were reading about a fantasy epic like the lord of the rings and someone just comes out with an Uzi and starts spraying down mother fuckers like he's Rambo.**

 **Yeah sure, maybe gun powder weapons aren't completely out of the picture, but an Uzi is so far past that tech level that it just doesn't make sense to have it.**

 **That's the problem with 'humanoid' robots in fiction; unless the universe has shown that it has progressed to the point where it is capable of such feats, it makes no sense of them to be present.**

 **Hopefully Rooster Teeth can properly explain how and why Penny exists at a fundamental level but I doubt it.**

 **After all, it is fiction, and most people don't really care.**

 **I'll still enjoy the story though, it's a good story regardless.**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Oh god this came out so late…**

 **So I started working a second job. I am now officially working about 66-72 hours every week. So I've been thinking about this story and its progression recently now that I've gotten 11 chapters deep into it and I've come to the realization that I never really planned for it to get this far. I never actually wrote down the entire plot! I wrote the ending I wanted and that was about it.**

 **So now that I'm here, I'm worried how I'm actually going to continue the story and finish it through the middle part.**

 **Either way, these are just my rambling thoughts!**

 **Hopefully you guys continue to enjoy my story!**

 **Here is chapter 11!**

* * *

Favors – Chapter 11

* * *

"…I thought Atlas was supposed to have some of the most intelligent programmers in all of Remnant…?" Roman muttered to himself as code sprawled down his screen. Why these people believed that using a buffer with a set size was going to be a smart idea was completely beyond him. It's like these people took intro to computer science, dropped out early, and then went on to work for the biggest companies –relying entirely on the power of the internet and other people's libraries in lieu of actually learning the material.

When he had the damn thing remade from scratch and the firmware/software uploaded into the damn Paladin core he had been expecting to face serious levels of security. He was expecting full blown usage of AES, Blowfish, or possibly RSA in some strange fashion but was met with the incredible and just impossible to break…DES algorithm…

Data Encryption Standard…

The one method of encryption that had been phased out literally years ago due to the ease that hackers had defeated it with.

It amazed him how lazy people could get when they weren't challenged in any way –these 'researchers' and 'programmers' had their cute little cushion jobs and whenever anything went wrong they just made the shit ball roll downhill.

So one buffer overflow exploit, lots of headaches, three violent threats, and a quick phone call later, Roman had hit pay dirt.

"Haaaaaaa…" Roman sighed loudly, leaning back into his chair, stretching his cramped back. Sitting hunched over for several hours could do terrible things to a man's back as he quickly found out, a stinging pain shooting down his spine. But regardless of the pain, Roman began thinking once more on the Yellowbrick Research Foundation.

 _AI in Remnant is pretty widespread, especially in places like Atlas where most of the military is comprised of autos like the AK-130, but everywhere else, it's pretty much a fringe science. So what the hell are the boys at Schnee RnD doing researching advanced AI._ Roman thought to himself as he reached over, grabbed his mouse, and opened up another set of files.

 _According to what I've been able to steal from their servers, Schnee researchers have been focusing on…_ his eyes squinted as he read the title of the research paper… _machine learning. A branch of study not given much thought I see…What the hell are these supposed to even mean? Clustering, Bayesian Networks, Artificial Neural Networks? Sounds like a bunch of bullshit._

Of course, most of these machine learning algorithms had been fully abandoned, abscond in their infancy, and only one had actually been on any use apparently -artificial neural networks.

Roman read on, his eyes lingering on every word as he tried his best to make heads or tails out of the complex jargon presented before him. He slowly pieced it together and began jotting down his thoughts onto an open document.

According to what he was reading, machine learning was supposed to be a technique that AI could use to learn, sort, and recall new information as it was dynamically presented to them. Several methods of machine learning popped up, the most interesting being artificial neural networks –a learning algorithm inspired and modeled after the biological neural network present in living beings.

While he couldn't truly understand the specifics that were presented, Roman understood the core concept fully.

The Schnee Dust Company, backed by the Atlas military were creating machines that could learn like living, breathing, humans.

For what reason, he could only guess, and his guess was quite far-fetched –he considered it an idea that lived on the outskirts of possibility, in the fringe that resided between science and fiction. An Idea that was so dubiously impossible that he wouldn't believe, even if it was presented before his own two eyes.

The idea, that they were trying to make a human.

"Ridiculous." He said to himself, not even wanting to entertain such a preposterous idea for a moment. He clasped his hands together on his lap and stared blankly at the computer screen, eyes glazed over in thought. A human level robot was so far past what they could accomplish right now that it would be almost immediately obvious if they had that level of tech. Forget Cinder, forget Ozpin, hell, forget every single hunter or grimm in the world combined.

With a human level AI computer, Atlas would have dominated all of Remnant by now. It was something touched on in several old fiction books -all teaching about the dangers of evolving technology- the idea of a dangerous 'super computer' that could wipe out all living beings. Though the topic had never truly broached society as a whole, most people were a bit more worried about immediate threats, like having their bowels eviscerated by a roaming beowolf. But some scientists did discuss the idea of an advanced AI that could do the thinking and fighting for us –these ideas never really got any traction due to their nature of being what most considered pipe dreams.

The general message of these scientists though, was that any sufficiently intelligent AI would immediately improve at an exponential rate.

This concept, this notion, this idea was known among the science community as…

 _Singularity…So unless Atlas has achieved what's been considered the impossible for our entire existence…_ But Roman shook his head of this silly fiction. There had to be a more logical idea, something with a valid explanation that wasn't reaching or crazy. There had to be.

And as his computer dinged quietly, signaling that his virus had infiltrated the Paladin AI core successfully, Roman retrieved another cigar from inside his coat. Steady hand brought it up to his lips, which parted ever so slightly to envelop the tobacco stick, while another steady hand brought up a lighter to light it.

"Shit." He said lightly, when the lighter clattered to the floor, falling out of his shaking hand. He bent down, picked it back up with his dominant hand, and completed his action.

He tightly gripped his left hand with his right, stopping its shaking.

Shaking so violently.

"…" He blew out a large cloud of smoke, obscuring his vision. Sighing, he deposited the cigar into an ashtray next to him. He didn't really want to acknowledge it now though…

Even though it had finally formed so clearly at the forefront of his mind, he wanted to ignore it…

What those faunus were being used for.

* * *

 ***Scritch* *Scratch***

 ***Scritch* *Scratch***

Glynda sighed as she stared deep into the holographic projection presented before her, her hands folded tightly on her desk. She felt her eyes slipping closed, the sheer boredom of having to watch a teenage boy write notes taking its toll on her.

Jaune Arc was beginning to truly look like a victim of circumstance it seemed.

Slowly, her head began to droop ever so slightly over the lacquered table, a final show of defeat.

 ***Ring* *Ring* *Ring***

Her head whipped back up, eyes practically welded to the screen now as she watched Jaune pick up his scroll and answer it. She pressed a few buttons on a screen to her left and suddenly the system came to life with noise.

"-make sense. Pyrrha, this stuff is haaard!" Jaune whined into his scroll, prompting Glynda to hang her head once more and shut off the signal tapper –a system they used very sparingly when they felt students were up to less than scrupulous activities. Ever since he had come with his strange questions Glynda had been sure that this Jaune Arc boy was most definitely up to no good, but so far he had been proving her assumptions wrong at every turn –the boy was even studying in his off time for class. While Jaune was no prodigy student, it was becoming clearer and clearer with each passing day that he was simply thirsty for knowledge.

Truly infuriating then, that her instinct kept screaming at her that he was a danger to them.

She was getting tired of this though -watching a teenage boy all day was taking its toll on her. But if she stopped, she would have to admit to Ozpin that he was right and that Jaune was just a normal, if overly curious, student.

Which simply didn't sit well with her since every fiber of her being told her that he wasn't.

In fact, she was so tired that she didn't even hear the door open and close behind her.

"You're quite committed aren't you?" A calm voice sounded behind her.

She just sighed when the warm scent of coffee entered her nostrils. She turned around slowly and found herself face to face with her boss…

"Ozpin." She muttered quietly. "Something about him just isn't…" The words trailed off into the air, finding no purchase between the two –Glynda's mind stayed blank, waiting for Ozpin's obvious response.

"Perhaps he's just a student Glynda, it seems that Jaune is truly just trying to enjoy the remainder of his teen years." Ozpin said, taking short sips from his coffee as he spoke resolutely, though Glynda didn't seem convinced at all still. She could be like that though –she called it being cautious, he, paranoid.

"I'm telling you Ozpin, something about him just doesn't match up. He's hiding _something_."

He nodded at her words and took his place by her side, watching Jaune slam his head onto the table when he seemingly came across a concept too difficult for him.

It was amusing for him at least.

"We're all hiding something, aren't we Glynda?"

She scoffed at the answer. "Yes, but we have good reasons-"

"Well…let's suppose he does as well." He interrupted, one hand coming down and closing the projections, startling the strict professor only slightly. "You've watched him long enough for today Glynda, we've work to attend to. For now, just consider his questions a mere coincidence."

Glynda raised an eyebrow and cocked her head, surprised to hear the words leaving his mouth. Ozpin and work were never used in the same sentence unless the word 'never' was imposed in between the two.

As they got up and left the small security room, Glynda made one last response.

"I still remember," her strict voice echoed down the long hallway in front of them, "you told me once before Ozpin, coincidences don't happen in our line of work."

Ozpin ignored her.

* * *

"Statistics Helen! Statistics aren't racist!"

"You aren't pointing out statistics Dennis, you're just trying to promote your bigotry and racism!"

"The White Fang is a dangerous terrorist org-"

"They aren't the majority!"

"They're supported by the-"

"No, most faunus are peaceful an-"

 ***click***

The TV changed channels with a quick press of a button, eliciting a sigh from the rest of the bar patrons –many of whom were tired of having to hear the two politicians bicker for over an hour straight. Many continued on with their casual conversations, letting chatter build up once more, a steady pace filling the room.

Tucked into the corner, having his own conversation, hushed as it was, sat Tukson.

"It's fucking bullshit man!" One hissed out low, his ears flat against the top of his skull. "They still treat us like animals after all these years!"

His statement earned a quiet chorus of praise from the gathered faunus, though Tukson joined primarily out of necessity. This wasn't exactly his usual crowd of people.

"Can you believe that Dennis guy? He's running for council head and people are actually listening to him!" A young woman slammed her bottle of alcohol hard onto the table to accentuate her point. "If that doesn't tell you that people are still racist I don't know what will."

"Exactly, and they have the fucking audacity to say that the White Fang are just terrorists." A bull horned male muttered quietly, nodding to himself. "Like they have no reason for what they do."

Tukson decided to strike at that moment.

"It's ridiculous," he started, gathering a spatter of agreements, "and I hear the White Fang are actually here in town." He lowered his voice and bent lower to the table, his voice carrying over gently to the faunus sitting around him. Tukson dragged his eyes slowly over each one, gauging their reactions, looking for a sign of some sort that would tell him whether or not…

"…I…I hear they actually left already." A feline faunus timidly spoke. She bit her lip when all eyes turned towards her. "I-I mean I don't actually…" Her words trailed off but Tukson egged her on.

"They left…Do you know where?" He asked with faux excitement, his eyes wide and feigning innocent interest –they hid the turmoil and stirring thoughts of his mind.

Unfortunately, she just shook her head, crushing his hopes down into the dirt. It looked like this lead was going to end up nowhere as well it-

"I hear they went to mount Glenn." Another said as he absentmindedly scratch one of his horns.

Tukson felt his heart begin pumping in earnest and his pores popping to life as he finally got an answer of some sort. True or not, it was something to go off of.

"Mount Glenn? That place has been abandoned for a while now…" Tukson allowed his trailing voice to carry the implication, possibly for someone else to chime in and…

"For good reason too, place is overrun with grimm and just some nasty shit man."

"Look, I don't know if they're their but that's just what I heard!" He stated adamantly.

Tukson shook his head and shrugged at him, bringing on an air of dismissal as he took another sip of his beer -Journey Brand of course, he drank quality beer, not that Valley crap from Mistral he always heard about. "Who did you even hear that from? Sounds like a shitty rumor to me…"

That garnered an annoyed grunt and a solid table smack as the other faunus glared at him, his cheeks red from either rage or alcohol –probably both Tukson noted to himself.

"My brother works in the White Fang, he told me that's where they were headed man!"

"You brother works in the White Fang?" Several of the faunus mirrored the surprised remark. Sure, every faunus knew about White Fang but only a select few had actual contacts within the organization, getting into the organization wasn't as easy as some made it out to be.

So his exclamation garnered several stares, causing him to shrink in his seat a bit as he defended himself.

"He's just a low level grunt alright, he's not some kind of-"

"So they really are in Mount Glenn…" Tukson muttered quietly to himself, completely tuning out of the current conversation. It wasn't exactly a fool-proof lead but it was certainly better than literally anything else he had come across recently.

But why Mount Glenn? It wasn't exactly a hotspot for tourism, business, or politics since it was, you know, abandoned years ago after the accident. Hell, the tunnels connecting Mount Glenn to Vale had been closed off…

…

…

With metal doors that were probably battered with rust from years of neglect.

There was no way they would actually do something like that though…Opening the old tunnels and leading grimm into Vale just to prove some twisted point.

" _Humans are naturally inferior Tukson, they just happen to be so numerous. But all of that can change with…effort." The White Fang commander said as he slid his knife slowly into the man's struggling throat, opening a slit for a flat trail of copper liquid to pour out of._

 _Tukson ran._

As his old memories came floating back and Tukson felt his lips draw into a thin line of displeasure.

"Hey Tuk, where you going man?" One called out to him as he abruptly stood up and gathered his belonging in earnest -he mumbled out a monotone apology as he walked out the doors.

Tukson made his way back to his bookstore –late as it was, he needed to make a call to Blake before he headed out to Glenn. Blake had seemed quite fidgety the last time he had seen her and he wanted to make sure she stayed put somewhere in the city while he went out to find the White Fang. If he disappeared without giving her some kind of excuse she would probably go into overdrive looking for the White Fang.

That would be unacceptable.

He soon found himself standing in front of his store, the lights off, blinds closed, and doors locked as they always had been. Tukson found himself pausing in front of his door –hand clutching the handle tightly.

 _Something feels off..._ He thought to himself as he twisted the handle easily and slowly pushed the door inwards. While he couldn't see anything in particular being out of place, he was certain that something was wrong. The door closed behind him and darkness filled the store once again.

Blackness spread to every corner and Tukson found himself standing on his welcome mat staring into the seeping void, the only noise being his breathing. He listened carefully as he carefully made his way around shelves.

"Hello."

He stopped dead in his tracks when a smooth voice crept out of the darkness behind him and crawled down his neck.

"Don't bother turning around, you'll be dead before you know it."

"I wasn't planning on it." He replied simply, his hands resting at his sides. Smoothly and silently, ivory claws extended from their confines out into the open air, Tukson tensed when he heard footsteps draw closer.

"Woah their kitty, no need to pull out the claws. I'm just here to talk." Tukson drew a deep breath when he heard that. On one hand, he could put the claws away and hope that he was telling the truth and wouldn't just kill him, on the other hand, his claws were quite literally his only line of defense. "Look buddy, I'm just here to talk a bit. Alright?" The lights turned on and Tukson suddenly found himself face to face with a boyish looking visage. He stumbled backwards at the sudden sight and found himself dropping into a chair placed behind him.

The figure stood silently in front of him now, condescending smirk planted firmly on his face.

"So, I see that you've been looking for the White Fang recently." He leaned in, eyes locked and unwavering. "Tukson, you're from Atlas right? I checked some records, saw that you used to be part of the White Fang up there."

Tukson clenched the edges of his chair, knuckles turning white with pressure. Checked the records? Was this guy also a part of the White Fang? It didn't seem likely since he didn't seem to be a faunus, but then again, with the recent alliance with Roman Torchwick, maybe human allies to the White Fang wasn't a complete impossibility. So he simply nodded in affirmation, hoping that this wouldn't turn violent.

"I've been watching you Tukson, just-" the young man stretched his legs slightly, tensing them, "-making sure that you were still loyal to the cause." He ran his fingers through his silver hair, watching for a reaction.

Tukson found himself at a loss for words –this man was no doubt a White Fang member, possibly even an enforcer. This was possibly the worst situation he could have found himself in; interrogated by someone who could probably slaughter him like a...well an animal he supposed.

"I've always been loyal." He stated bluntly, matching the gaze with his own. "I moved to Vale to help out the local faunus, but when I heard Adam had come to town…" Tukson shrugged and heavily sighed. "I wanted to get involved, went to one of the rallies, liked what I saw, but when I went to go ask what we were planning on doing," the fingers on his hands mimicked tiny explosions, "everyone was gone. No sign or trace. So I thought I'd just ask around you know, find out where everyone went."

"Uh huh, so who's this?" He flicked a small picture towards him.

 _Fuck…_ One day, when a new encyclopedia was written and it include common idioms, beside the entry for 'stuck between a rock and a hard place' it would show an image of him with his ass firmly planted in a chair talking to a guy who could probably tear his face off with his toes.

"She's a faunus, just wanted to know what she thought about the rally." The picture showed his conversation with Blake after the rally.

"You know who this girl is Tukson?" The youth meandered around him and planted his hand firmly on his shoulder, squeezing tightly. He leaned in when Tukson shook his head. "Her name is Blake Belladonna the great traitor, ring any bells yet?" Another shake of the head had him laughing. "Alright then, so you just met her the one time and that's about it right?"

How the hell was he supposed to answer this? He couldn't lie and say that he had no contact with her, he would be found out instantly, all this guy had to do was ask for his phone and it would be over. On the other hand though, the truth was just as incriminating –working with a known traitor to the White Fang was a death sentence. What the hell could he say…?

"I-I've talked to her a couple of times after. She comes to the bookstore! I didn't know she was a traitor!" Pleading never bought salvation, but it could buy time.

"Woah there man, calm down compadre." He squeezed tightly once more, silencing Tukson in an instant. "I'm not saying that you're a traitor too Tukson, far from it actually. I was thinking you could do something for us though. Since you seem to know her so well."

He swallowed and let his eyes slowly trail back towards his captor. "What do you need from me?"

"Well it's not really me who needs something Tuk, it's Adam."

 _What? Why would Adam want anything to do with a simple traitor… No… There's no fucking way…_ Back in the past a rumor was circulating in the White Fang about Adam having taken in an apprentice, a girl to be specific, one that he supposedly cherished far more than he should have. He heard about Adam's uncharacteristic indulgence for her attitude, letting her get away with far more than anyone else ever had.

Then one day, the rumors stopped.

No one spoke about it ever again –those who did never spoke again period from what he heard.

But Blake was only 17…She was a kid! Adam was practically a full grown man...It didn't make any sense…

"What does Adam want with her?" He didn't want the answer but he needed it. His knuckles turned ever whiter.

"Oh," He felt him lean in, fingers clutching his shoulders, nearly breaking flesh, "he wants a...hmmm…what's the word for it?" Silence filled the room for several seconds before a whisper filled his ear. "Oh yeah, _reunion_."

 _Blake, how the hell did you fuck up in life so badly?_

* * *

 **A/N: So I have decided to take a short break from this story. I don't know how long it'll last, probably only two or three months at most and I'll probably spend those two months writing out the rest of the story and fleshing it out a bit better. I may update other stories if I have the ability to but I wouldn't bank on it.**

 **Work has really taken its toll on me so I think I need to reevaluate how I do things.**

 **Thanks so much for understanding, I really appreciate it!**

 **:)**


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